Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Troubled waters: On India, Sri Lanka and the fisheries dispute

Troubled waters: On India, Sri Lanka and the fisheries dispute

India and Sri Lanka must facilitate (सुगम बनाना, आसान बनाना) discussions among their fishermen

In the latest chapter of the long-standing (दीर्घकालिक) fisheries (मत्स्य पालन) dispute in the Palk Bay (a waterway/inlet of the Bay of Bengal sea between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna District of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. (Bay is a body of water surrounded by land on three sides)) region, the Sri Lankan Navy arrested 14 fishermen from Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district on February 8 for alleged (कथित, आरोपित) poaching (अवैध शिकार करना) in waters north of Mannar. Two trawlers (a kind of fishing boat (used for fishing with a trawl net)) were also impounded (जब्त करना, कब्जे में लेना). On January 27, the Navy fired at an Indian boat near Delft Island, injuring two fishermen. With these arrests, the total number of Indian fishermen detained (हिरासत में लेना, रोकना) this year has risen to 77. Just last week, a Sri Lankan court released nine fishermen from Karaikal, Puducherry, but one other person received a six-month prison sentence (सजा, दंड). Additionally, Sri Lankan courts have been imposing hefty (large, huge, substantial) fines, complicating their release. Government data over the past decade (दशक, दस वर्षों की अवधि), based on responses in Parliament, show that in 2024, the number of Indian fishermen arrested in Sri Lanka crossed the 500-mark for the first time in 10 years (528). There were 787 arrests in 2014.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on February 3, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said that 97 fishermen and 216 fishing boats were still under the custody of Sri Lanka. Unlike in the past, when they were quickly released, recent years have seen rising convictions (sentence, judgement, verdict) for violations (उल्लंघन, अतिक्रमण) of the International Maritime (समुद्री, जल संबंधी) Boundary Line (IMBL) and unlawful (अवैध, गैरकानूनी) fishing. While Tamil Nadu and Puducherry fishermen often cross the IMBL, their counterparts (समकक्ष, प्रतिरूप) in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-speaking Northern Province (प्रांत, क्षेत्र, राज्य), who are still recovering from the civil war (गृहयुद्ध), oppose their fishing methods, particularly ecologically (environmentally) destructive bottom trawling (trawling (towing a trawl, which is a fishing net) along the seafloor/seabed. (Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl)). Northern Sri Lankan fishermen are seeking a sustainable (relating to practices or conditions that can be maintained or continued over the long term without causing significant negative impacts on the environment, society, or economy) solution that protects their waters from over-exploitative (illegal, unethical, greedy, predatory, rapacious, avaricious) fishing. Indian fishermen have repeatedly sought a fresh round of talks (dialogue, discussion, deliberation, consultation, parley, negotiation) with their Sri Lankan counterparts, with the last such meeting having taken place in November 2016. The issue was also raised in the most recent Joint Working Group (the bilateral administrative mechanism formed to discuss the boundary issues with the purpose of finding a solution) meeting in Colombo last October. However, the Anura Kumara Dissanayake-led Sri Lankan government appears reluctant (unwilling, hesitant, resistant, averse, disinclined) to negotiate (discuss terms, hold talks, talk). New Delhi and Colombo must recognise (acknowledge, accept, realize, admit) that a fresh approach is required to break the deadlock (stalemate, impasse, checkmate/stand-off) rather than (instead of) continuing with a business-as-usual (relating to a situation where everything is proceeding as normal and as expected; normal, ordinary, standard, routine, mundane, unexceptional) mindset. Unlike the cases of Indian fishermen detained in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, the arrests in Sri Lanka are significantly higher. New Delhi must introduce incentives (payment or concession; inducement, encouragement, motivation, stimulus) to encourage Palk Bay fishermen to move away (change/alter one’ ideas/beliefs/views and so; back down, withdraw, pull back) from trawling. While this shift will take time, both governments must facilitate immediate discussions between their fishing communities to find interim (provisional, temporary, short-term, transitional) solutions. It is only through proactive (forward-looking, fore-thoughtful) diplomacy (international politics, foreign affairs, foreign policy; negotiations, discussions, talks, dialogue (related to international politics)) and sustainable fishing policies that this ongoing (current, existing, continuing) conflict (dispute, quarrel, squabble; clash, friction, opposition) can be addressed (tackle, deal with, attend to, try to sort out) effectively.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.fishery (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मत्स्य पालन
English Meaning - areas of the sea where fish are caught in large quantities for commercial purposes.

2.facilitate (verb)

Hindi Meaning - सुगम बनाना, आसान बनाना
English Meaning - make easy, assist, help, aid, expedite, speed up, accelerate.

3.long-standing (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - दीर्घकालिक
English Meaning - enduring, lasting, persistent, prevailing, perennial, long-term, permanent.

4.alleged (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - कथित, आरोपित
English Meaning - supposed, so-called, claimed, professed, purported, ostensible, apparent, reported.

5.poach (verb)

Hindi Meaning - अवैध शिकार करना
English Meaning - hunt illegally, catch illegally, kill illegally, trap illegally.

6.impound (verb)

Hindi Meaning - जब्त करना, कब्जे में लेना
English Meaning - appropriate, take possession of, seize, take custody of.

7.detain (verb)

Hindi Meaning - हिरासत में लेना, रोकना
English Meaning - take into custody, hold in custody, confine, restrain, arrest, apprehend.

8.sentence (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सजा, दंड
English Meaning - conviction, judgement, verdict.

9.decade (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दशक, दस वर्षों की अवधि
English Meaning - a period of ten years.

10.violation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उल्लंघन, अतिक्रमण
English Meaning - breach, contravention, infringement, breaking, non-observance.

11.maritime (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - समुद्री, जल संबंधी
English Meaning - of or related to the sea.

12.unlawful (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अवैध, गैरकानूनी
English Meaning - illegal, illicit, against the law.

13.counterpart (noun)

Hindi Meaning - समकक्ष, प्रतिरूप
English Meaning - someone or something that has the same job or purpose as another; equivalent, equal, fellow.

14.province (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रांत, क्षेत्र, राज्य
English Meaning - territory, region, state (of a country).

15.civil war (noun)

Hindi Meaning - गृहयुद्ध
English Meaning - a war between organized groups within the same state or country.

16.troubled waters (phrase)

English Meaning - a difficult situation/time.

17.Palk bay (noun)

English Meaning - a waterway/inlet of the Bay of Bengal sea between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna District of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. (Bay is a body of water surrounded by land on three sides).

18.trawler (noun)

English Meaning - a kind of fishing boat (used for fishing with a trawl net).

19.Delft island (or) Neduntheevu (noun)

English Meaning - it is a northern Sri Lanka Island located midway between Sri Lanka and India in the Palk Strait.

20.hefty (adjective)

English Meaning - large, huge, substantial.

21.mark (noun)

English Meaning - point, level, stage, target.

22.conviction (noun)

English Meaning - sentence, judgement, verdict.

23.International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) (noun)

English Meaning - it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources, encompassing maritime features, limits and zones (such as the territorial sea (12 nautical miles), contiguous zone (24 nautical miles), exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles), and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nautical miles). Generally, a maritime boundary is delineated at a particular distance from a jurisdiction’s coastline under the United Nations Convention on Law of Sea (UNCLOS).

24.ecologically (adverb)

English Meaning - environmentally.

25.bottom trawling (noun)

English Meaning - trawling (towing a trawl, which is a fishing net) along the seafloor/seabed. (Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl).

26.sustainable (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to practices or conditions that can be maintained or continued over the long term without causing significant negative impacts on the environment, society, or economy.

27.sustainable (adjective)

English Meaning - reasonable, sensible, well-founded (without disturbing the balance of nature and then without exhausting all of the natural resources).

28.exploitative (adjective)

English Meaning - illegal, unethical, greedy, predatory, rapacious, avaricious.

29.sought past tense of seek (verb)

English Meaning - ask for, request, appeal, demand.

30.talks (noun)

English Meaning - dialogue, discussion, deliberation, consultation, parley, negotiation.

31.Joint Working Group (JWG) (noun)

English Meaning - the bilateral administrative mechanism formed to discuss the boundary issues with the purpose of finding a solution.

32.reluctant (adjective)

English Meaning - unwilling, hesitant, resistant, averse, disinclined.

33.negotiate (verb)

English Meaning - discuss terms, hold talks, talk.

34.recognise (verb)

English Meaning - acknowledge, accept, realize, admit.

35.deadlock (noun)

English Meaning - stalemate, impasse, checkmate/stand-off.

36.rather than (phrase)

English Meaning - instead of.

37.business-as-usual (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to a situation where everything is proceeding as normal and as expected; normal, ordinary, standard, routine, mundane, unexceptional.

38.incentive (noun)

English Meaning - payment or concession; inducement, encouragement, motivation, stimulus.

39.move away (from) (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - change/alter one’ ideas/beliefs/views and so; back down, withdraw, pull back.

40.interim (adjective)

English Meaning - provisional, temporary, short-term, transitional.

41.proactive (adjective)

English Meaning - forward-looking, fore-thoughtful.

42.diplomacy (noun)

English Meaning - international politics, foreign affairs, foreign policy; negotiations, discussions, talks, dialogue (related to international politics).

43.ongoing (adjective)

English Meaning - current, existing, continuing.

44.conflict (noun)

English Meaning - dispute, quarrel, squabble; clash, friction, opposition.

45.address (verb)

English Meaning - tackle, deal with, attend to, try to sort out.