Indian and Sri lankan delegations will go ahead with their talks on the fishermen issue planned for May 12, a top lankan official said here on Saturday.
Fisheries Ministry spokesman Narendra Rajapaksa said the arrest of 24 Sri lankan fishermen and their five boats in Andhra Pradesh would not hinder the talks. “The talks would happen as planned and we await the arrival of delegates,” he said.
The talks which were to take place in mid-March did not take place as the Tamil Nadu Government protested the detention of Indian fishermen by Sri lanka.The bilateral talks began in mid January to find a solution to the fishermen issue that often boils into a major political controversy in India.
The latest breakthrough came in the form of an order by President Mahinda Rajapaksa after India abstained from voting on a US-sponsored resolution against lanka at the UN Human Rights Council.