The Indo-Lanka fishing dispute

India’s angry protest last week about an incident in Palk Bay where a confrontation between the Sri Lanka Navy and an Indian fishing craft resulted in, according to the SLN, of an accidental discharge of a firearm that led to the “minor wounding” of two Indian fishers, provoked an indignant reader’s letter we run today. Responding to India’s demand that the decades long practice of Tamil Nadu fishermen poaching in Sri Lanka waters, and worse, using illegal bottom trawling methods destroying the marine environment endangering fish breeding, be treated in a “humane” manner, he asked what India’s reaction would be if the boot was on the other foot.

Sri Lanka’s Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi had been summoned to what’s called the South Block housing India’s powerful External Affairs Ministry for a dressing down. An official statement had also been issued by the Indians says among other things that “the use of force is not acceptable whatsoever. Existing understandings between the two governments in this regard must be strictly observed.”

What these understandings are not clear. India has for very many years been stressing that Sri Lanka must view the long-standing problem of Indian fishermen, mostly from Tamil Nadu, crossing the International Maritime Boundary and poaching in our waters “in a humane manner.” The pertinent question of whether the Sri Lanka Navy should watch on while such blatant poaching and damaging the seabed and resultntly our maritime resources goes on, has been pointedly asked.

Incidents like last week’s are invariably reported from either side of the Palk Strait from the perspectives of the parties involved. While Sri Lanka is on record saying that there was an accidental discharge of a weapon, India has taken the view that the SLN had fired at the vessel. According to our Navy “minor injuries” had been caused to two Indian fishers, while the Indian side claims that “serious injuries” have been caused.

Colombo takes up the position that when Indian fishing trawlers are confronted by the SLN, they resort to aggressive manoeuvres to resist arrest and the boarding of the vessels by naval personnel. In July last year, a Special Boat Squadron sailor was killed in a confrontation with an Indian trawler off Kankesanturai. The Fast Attack Craft he was on board was badly damaged due to what was described as “aggressive manoeuvring,” the SLN said.

The Navy claims that such incidents are not uncommon during operations it undertake to chase away Indian trawlers poaching in Sri Lanka waters often under the cover of darkness. India does not deny that its fishermen frequently cross the International Maritime Border as evidenced by the 537 Indian fishermen arrested and 70 trawlers impounded last year. In January, this year over 60 fishermen have been held and three trawlers impounded.

Just as much as Indian fishermen cross the maritime boundary and enter Sri Lankan waters, our fishermen also cross into Indian waters though not in the numbers or intensity as Indians do. This is often the result of Lankan multi-day trawlers returning home after fishing in the Arabian Sea inadvertently straying into Indian waters rather than poaching in those waters. The presence of Tiger prawns on our side of the boundary is a magnet that draws Indian fishers here. Also Indian fishermen had a free run in our northern waters during the war when there was a two mile limit on how far our fishermen could go out to sea. Having enjoyed that benefit for many years, they are naturally loath to give it up,

The two sides have held umpteen talks to resolve the problem of poaching in Sri Lankan waters, most recently during President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s state visit to India. But this issue which had long been a major irritant as far as Sri Lanka is concerned, as well as a thorn on the side of the Indian center with consistent Tamil Nadu pressure on New Delhi seeking intervention on behalf of their fishermen has not been resolved. But is the problem insurmountable?

There are similar issues between India and Pakistan along their maritime boundary in the Arabian Sea, but incidents of Indian fishermen aggressively poaching are very rare. According to Indian sources, there are two very good reasons for this. The first is the more aggressive patrolling by the Indian Coast Guard, as well as the Maritime Security Agency of Pakistan. Trespassing in this part of the troubled waters is also rare because fishermen know that if they are arrested, the prison conditions and treatment of poachers are anything but humane by both sides.

There is no proper official count of how many fishermen India and Pakistan hold from each other’s nations, but the appalling treatment of offenders and the military patrolling have been quite effective deterrents. Given the friendly ties between Delhi and Colombo, should not the two nations begin joint naval patrols to ensure that fishermen from their own countries do not stray into each other’s waters? India has much greater capacity than we do to implement this. But is the necessary political will to do so there?