Sri Lankan PM reiterates his stand, says firing of fisherman valid

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe has again said that his country’s Navy has the right to shoot anyone who intrudes into its territorial waters, notwithstanding India’s forthright disapproval.

“The Lankan navy has the right to shoot in any part of the country if anyone enters territorial waters, this is nothing new,” he told a TV channel, two days after his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi visit to the island nation. Ahead of Mr Modi’s visit, Mr Wickremasinghe had told a Tamil news channel, “If someone tries to break into my house, I can shoot. If he gets killed... Law allows me to do that,” drawing India’s ire.

Mr Wickremasinghe said Modi’s trip to the country was a “successful visit”.

The two nations are trying to resolve the fishermen issue, he said. The main issue, Mr Wickremasinghe said, was bottom trawling and it has to stop.

“That has been acknowledged by all sides,” he said. Mr Modi, during his Sri Lanka visit, had discussed the fishermen’s issue — a major irritant in bilateral ties — with President Mithripala Sirisena, and said this complex question involves livelihood and humanitarian concerns on both sides. “This complex issue involves livelihood and humanitarian concerns on both sides,” Mr Modi had said.