More than two years after the second round of talks in Colombo ended in a deadlock, fishermen from both Tamil Nadu and northern Sri Lankan will meet in Delhi tomorrow to work out a sustainable solution for trouble-free fishing in the Palk Bay.

Around 13 representatives from Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Pudukottai and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu and three to four fishermen representatives from Karaikal in Puducherry are expected to attend the meeting.

The Sri Lankan side will be represented by an equal number of representatives from Jaffna, Mannar, Mullivaikal and Vanni. The row between fishermen in Tamil Nadu (especially in southern coastal districts) and those in Northern Province of Sri Lanka has been going on for several years and it intensified after the civil war in the island nation ended in 2009.

A delegation of fishermen met Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar in Chennai.

The Indian Ocean Region division of the Ministry of External Affairs, which convened the ‘Internal stakeholders’ meeting in Delhi on July 29, has convened the fishermen-level talks, reports said.

Four fishermen arrested by Lankan navy.

Meanwhile, four fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested today by the Sri Lankan Navy when they were fishing near Katchattivu for ‘fishing in their territory’. “The arrested fishermen have been taken to Jaffna, Fishermen’s Association president,” Sagayam said.