22 January 2021 12:00 am
By Easwaran Rutnam
India has registered a strong protest with Sri Lanka over the loss of lives of three Indian fishermen and one Sri Lankan national following a collision between an Indian vessel and a Sri Lankan Navy boat.
The Indian External Affairs Ministry said that a strong protest in regard to this incident was conveyed by India’s High Commissioner to the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister. A strong démarche was also made to the Sri Lankan Acting High Commissioner in New Delhi.
“Expressing our deep anguish at the loss of lives, we emphasised the need to deal with issues pertaining to fishermen in a humanitarian manner. Existing understandings between the two Governments in that regard must be strictly observed. Utmost efforts should be made to ensure that there is no recurrence,” the Indian External Affairs Ministry said.
The Sri Lanka Navy had on Wednesday recovered the bodies of two Indian fishermen who were killed after their boat sank following an incident involving the Navy and Indian fishing boats.