Editorial: Resolving the festering fishing dispute

Every now and then, the festering and contentious issue of fishing in the territorial waters of India and Sri Lanka resurfaces without an amicable and lasting solution on the horizon. Whenever Tamil Nadu’s fisher folk are arrested by Sri Lanka, the State government makes all the right noises and appeals to the union government to help in not only securing the release of arrested fishermen and their impounded vessels but also to find a lasting solution.

Chief Minister MK Stalin recently said that more than 3,600 fishermen have been arrested during the last decade and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate steps to sign an agreement to restore fishing rights near Katchatheevu islet. Likewise, Tamil politicians from northern Lanka periodically raise the issue of threat to the already fragile livelihood of the fisher folk who are yet to recover from the debilitating impact of the prolonged civil war and its aftermath.

This time around, the issue came up when Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi leader Thurairasa Ravikaran raised the issue in Parliament during the budget session on Wednesday. It can be interpreted as a strategic move to put the issue under the spotlight so that it will get due prominence during the proposed visit of the Indian Prime Minister in early April.

The Sri Lankan government could not but respond and the leader of the House and Minister of Transport Bimal Rathnayake chose to tread carefully and made a reasonably measured statement. Care was taken to ensure that the tone and tenor were such that they would not muddy the waters in the run up to Modi’s visit. Earlier, during his maiden visit to India after becoming the President, Anura Kumara Dissanayake expressed his country’s desire to deepen the relationship with India and sought continued support for the island nation’s development aspirations.

Almost repeating what Dissanayake said in New Delhi, Bimal Rathnayake first acknowledged the country’s appreciation for India lending a helping hand during several crises – be it during the civil war in the past or more recently during the devastating floods and crippling economic crisis. He then went on to appeal for “decisive action” by India against what he called as “illegal fishing” by Tamil fishermen.

The nagging issue of fishing in Palk Bay is complicated and therefore defied an effective and fair solution despite repeated and sincere efforts on both sides. Both nations acknowledge the problem and agree on resolving it in a humanitarian manner. They have even set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Fisheries as a mechanism to find a permanent solution. At the Sixth JWG meeting, India urged Sri Lanka “for earliest release of Indian fishermen and their boats under Sri Lankan custody” and also for convening “the meeting of Fishermen Associations between the two countries at the earliest”. There’s a mechanism in place, but it is yet to yield substantial results.

A comprehensive and holistic solution would include exercising the will power of nations, consultation with all stakeholders putting aside internal contradictions, if any, and lastly leveraging GPS, satellite and other state-of-the-art technologies. More difficult and time-consuming, of course, would be the reworking of the Katchatheevu islet issue. Given the regional equations and the Chinese overtures to India’s neighbours, it would be in India’s interest to be proactive in resolving with determination the fishing issue which would remove an irritant and thus help strengthen bilateral relations with Sri Lanka.