Colombo, Feb 18: The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 25 Indian fishermen on charges of fishing in Sri Lankan territorial waters.
The fishermen were arrested in the Kankasanthurai sea in the Jaffna district of Sri Lanka and their two sailboats were seized, the navy said in a statement. The detainees will be handed over to the Fisheries Inspectorate in Mailiddi, Jaffna for further legal action.
The fishing issue has been a contentious issue in relations between India and Sri Lanka, with Sri Lankan naval personnel sometimes firing on Indian fishermen in the Pakistan Strait and seizing boats for entering Sri Lankan territorial waters.
Fishermen from both countries are often arrested for inadvertently trespassing into each other’s waters. The Pak Strait is a narrow sea passage that separates Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka. It is a rich fishing ground for fishermen from both countries.
The Sri Lankan Navy had earlier said in a statement that it had arrested 346 Indian fishermen on fishing charges in 2025 and seized 44 boats.