Will solve fishermen issue: PM

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, on the sidelines of his visit to Guruvayur temple, said that measures would be taken to solve the issues plaguing the fishermen community in India.

“There are no classifications like Indian fishermen, Sri Lankan fishermen or Tamil fishermen. All of them are treated alike,” he said. The Lankan PM had earlier made a controversial statement justifying shooting of Indian fishermen if they intruded into Lankan waters.

In response to mediapersons question about the country’s foreign policy, he said that Sri Lanka has always maintained an equidistant policy between India and China. “We are neither pro India nor pro China. We are committed to uphold Sri Lanka’s interests,” he said. 

“With ongoing bilateral talks between India and Sri Lanka, we hope to develop a closer cooperation and working relationship between the two nations.” His last visit to offer prayers had been on December before he was elected as the Prime Minister in January. “This is a sort of thanksgiving visit for me,” he said.  

He also said that he was looking forward to working towards a greater cultural exchange between the two countries and said that an expert team from Sri Lanka would be visiting the elephant sanctuary in Punnathurkotta, the Guruvayur Devaswom elephant sanctuary as part of the initiative.

He was accompanied by his wife Maitree Wickremesinghe and Sri Lankan Minister for Resettlement, Reconstruction and Hindu religious affairs D M Swaminathan, the Hindu reported.