In Brief

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena has dismissed the opposition’s claim that his government had given fishing rights to Indian fisherman, and stressed he had issued clear instruction to Sri Lankan navy to seize boats that violated country’s territorial waters.

“We have not allowed fishing in our waters for the Indians. I have given clear instructions to the navy to arrest boats or trawlers that violate our water limits,” Mr Sirisena said in a gathering of representatives of the fishing industry and various political organisations.

Representatives of the Nationals Freedom Front, which sits in the opposition, had accused the government for giving fishing rights to Indians in Sri Lankan waters as an appeasement policy. The Sirisena government is already under fire for moving too close to India, even at the cost of hampering relations with China, which has substantial investments in the country.