During an interview to a Tamil news channel, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramesinghe said that Indian fishermen should keep away from their waters. He also added that as per the rules doing so would result in the Sri Lankan Navy opening fire.
The timing of Wickramesinghe's comments is interesting as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka next week, and also because fishermen from both sides are currently engaged in talks, reports The Times of India.
"If someone tries to break into my house, I can shoot. If he gets killed, law allows me to do that," Wickramesinghe told Thanthi TV on Friday night.
"This is our waters. Fishermen of Jaffna should be allowed to fish. We stopped them from fishing that's why the Indian fishermen came in. They (Jaffna fishermen) are willing to have a deal. Let's have a reasonable settlement but not at the cost of the livelihood of northern fishermen," he added.
Wickramesinghe also refuted claims that shooting of fishermen amounted to human rights violations. "Why are you coming into our waters? Why are you fishing in our waters? Stay on the Indian side. There will be no issue," he said.
