In a rare display of cooperation during a period of deteriorating ties between India and Sri Lanka, the Indian Coast Guard and the Sri Lankan navy on Sunday helped a group of Indian fishermen salvage a fishing boat from Rameswaram that sank last October near Delft Island (Neduntheevu), 40km west of Jaffna.

Indian Coast Guard ship Raj Tarang, escorted three Indian boats with 14 fishermen from Rameswaram after receiving the go-ahead for the operation from the ministry of external affairs.

The Raj Tarang delivered the fishermen to the protection of the Sri Lankan navy at the international maritime borderline (IMBL) at 10.25am on Sunday. The Lankan navy escorted the fishing boats and their crew to the spot where the boat sank.

After the fishermen successfully raised the boat, the Sri Lankan navy escorted the fishermen and their boats, with the salvaged boat in tow, to the Indian Coast Guard ship waiting at the IMBL at 9.15pm.

Diplomatic channels of both the countries coordinated the operation, as the salvage party raised the boat from the seabed and towed it to Indian waters, officials said.

Fishermen of both countries cross the IMBL regularly, but alleged Sri Lankan navy attacks on Indian boats and detention of fishermen have drawn ire in Tamil Nadu. Chief minister J Jayalalithaa has repeatedly asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene to stop the attacks and secure the release of fishermen in Sri Lankan prisons. As many as 121 Indian fishermen are currently in Sri Lankan jails and 26 boats are in Sri Lankan custody.

Jayalalithaa has challenged the validity of maritime boundary agreements between India and Sri Lanka in 1974 and 1976 and asked the Centre to retrieve Katchatheevu island.

The joint operation was conducted to recover a Indian fishing boat from Rameswaram that sank last October near Delft Island (Neduntheevu), 40km west of Jaffna. - TOI