Krishna meets Lankan FM, conveys concern over fishermen deaths

Priyanka Tikoo and Ajay Kaul
Thimphu, Feb 7 (PTI) India on Monday conveyed its "deep
concern" over killing of its fishermen allegedly by Sri Lankan
Navy as External Affairs Minister S M Krishna met his Lankan
counterpart G L Peiris, who said the two countries were
working to find a "sensible and pragmatic" solution that
endures.
During the 30-minute meeting, Peiris and Krishna agreed
on the early convening of the Joint Working Group to discuss
the issue of fishermen.
Peiris maintained that his government's initial
investigation had shown that its Navy was not involved in the
death of the Indian fishermen and wanted more evidence, if
any, to prove otherwise so that the matter could be looked
into in that context.
India has already furnished some evidence and expressed
readiness to give more depending on availability, which is
expected from Tamil Nadu.
"The External Affairs Minister conveyed India's deep
concern over the death of two Indian fishermen," External
Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash told reporters after
the meeting.
Both the sides agreed that force should not be resorted
to, Prakash said.
Peiris, who described the issue as a human one, told
Krishna that a thorough investigation was underway.
The Lankan Foreign Minister told reporters that the two
countries were discussing how the issue could be dealt with in
"a pragmatic way and I think a multi-pronged approach that has
been conceived by two governments will yield a sensible,
pragmatic solution which will endure."
Two Indian fishermen were killed allegedly by Sri
Lankan Navy in international maritime area since the last one
month, triggering anger in India.
Peiris said the Lankan government has been talking to
its Navy and "according to the information available with us,
Navy was not responsible."
He said there were satellite pictures which indicated
that there was "no complicity" on the part of Sri Lankan Navy.
He, however, said that Lanka was "open to any
evidence" that may be presented to it.
"For the future what is needed is stable mechanism
rather than addressing these matters on ad hoc basis... After
the incident has occurred, there is certainly a need for
stable mechanism to address the problem and to ensure that
these incidents do not recur," Peiris said.
He referred to Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao's recent
visit to Colombo a week ago and said she had some fruitful
discussions with the government of Sri Lanka.
The joint statement released at the end of her visit
indicates that there was an agreement on modality on the way
forward in which the mechanism of Joint Working Group, which
has not met since 2006, could be activated again, the Lankan
Foreign Minister said.
He stressed the need for addressing the issue to
ensure that there is no recurrence.