Lanka, India discuss maritime boundary issues

 Lanka, India discuss maritime boundary issues

IANS/Colombo

Sri Lanka and India have had more talks on issues relating to the maritime boundary line dividing both countries, the Sri Lanka navy said yesterday.

The navy said the 22nd International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) meeting between Sri Lanka and India was held onboard an Indian naval ship at the Indo-Sri Lanka maritime boundary line off Kankasanthurai in the north of Sri Lanka.

The Indian delegation consisted of Indian navy and coast guard officials and was headed by a naval officer from Tamil Nadu.

The IMBL meeting is held twice a year to strengthen the naval relationships between the two neighbouring countries. Delegates meet one another once onboard an Indian naval ship and next onboard a Sri Lankan naval ship.

During the 22nd IMBL session, matters related to fishing activities conducted in the Palk Strait, Gulf of Mannar and smuggling of narcotics across IMBL were discussed, the navy media unit said.

Meanwhile, four Indians were arrested while they were transporting cannabis in the north by boat after crossing the IMBL, the navy media unit said.

The navy said the four Indians as well as two Sri Lankans who had gone by boat to pick the cannabis were handed over to the police for further investigations.

Indian fishermen often accuse the Sri Lankan navy of attacking them when they stray into Sri Lankan waters to catch fish, an allegation that is rejected by the Sri Lankans.

The Indian government last week said the Sri Lankan navy had been told not to fire on Indian fishing vessels.

Indian Defence Minister AK Antony said the Indian government has been consistently taking up such issues with the government of Sri Lanka to ensure that the Sri Lankan navy acts with restraint and Indian fishermen found near the IMBL are treated in a humane manner.

French charged with molesting tourist

AFP/Colombo

A French guesthouse manager appeared before a magistrate in Sri Lanka yesterday charged with sexually molesting a 33-year-old French tourist, officials said.

At a hearing in the southern town of Galle, Magistrate G K Munasinghe impounded the passport of 44-year-old Olivier Sage and freed him on bail of Rs110,000 ($880), fixing the next hearing for May 29.

Police officials in court gave Sage’s address as the French Villa guesthouse in the nearby coastal resort of Unawatuna, adding that he was the holder of a French passport.

“We informed court that there was no medical evidence of rape, but we are maintaining that there was a sexual attack as defined in the penal code,” senior superintendent Jayantha Wickremasinghe said.

If convicted, he could be jailed for five years. Sri Lanka tightened laws in 2006 to protect women and children from sexual harassment.

The latest complaint came as police earlier this month said there had been an increase in attacks against foreign tourists visiting the Indian Ocean island emerging from nearly four decades of ethnic war.