Chennai, Feb 2 (IANS): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has urged Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to take up with the Sri Lankan authorities, the issue of arrest and incarceration of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.

In a letter on Tuesday night, the chief minister said that the regular arrests are creating problems for the families of these fishermen who are solely dependent on them for their survival.

Stalin was referring to the arrest of 21 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the early hours of Tuesday by the Sri Lankan Navy. Two trawlers of the fishermen were also confiscated on charges of crossing the International Marine Boundary Line (IMBL)

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said that 68 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy in three separate incidents in December 2021 and after high-level pressure, they were released recently but are still to be repatriated to their home country. He said that these regular arrests and intimidation by the Sri Lankan Navy were creating panic and shock among the Indian fishermen and their families are in dire straits and poverty has engulfed them.

He also called upon the Union External Affairs Minister to find a permanent solution to this issue between the fishermen of India and Sri Lanka as several fishermen have stopped venturing into seas leading to abject poverty at their homes.