A total of nine crew members were found on board the Pakistani boat.
In a joint operation, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad and the Indian Coast Guard have seized over 300 kg of drugs worth Rs 1,800 crore which were dumped into the Arabian Sea by Pakistani smugglers who fled across the international maritime boundary on being chased, officials said on Monday.
The Indian Coast Guard rescued seven Indian fishermen who were apprehended by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) in the mid-sea off the Gujarat coast. The incident took place on Sunday when the Coast Guard received a distress signal from an Indian fishing boat operating near the No-Fishing Zone (NFZ). The Coast Guard ship intercepted the PMSA vessel and persuaded personnel on board to release the seven Indian fishermen. The Indian fishing boat, Kal Bhairav, was reportedly damaged and sunk during the incident.
It is time the political leaderships in this country arrived at a common ground over issues of foreign and security policy concerns. There has to be a greater communication between the government and the Opposition leaderships for the nation to present a unified face against the rest of the world, advises N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a sea-air coordinated operation, narcotics worth Rs 480 crore were seized from a Pakistani boat with six crew in the Arabian Sea near Porbandar by a multi-agency team led by the Indian Coast Guard, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.
Rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Indian Coast Guard along with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad apprehended a fishing boat, carrying eight Pakistani nationals and 30 kg of heroin, near Kutch district's Jakhau coast on Thursday, an official statement said.
The CG and ATS personnel seized the boat Al Sakar which had 50 kg heroin on board, in the Arabian Sea, the official said.
A 50-year-old fisherman from Gujarat, who was apprehended by Pakistani authorities a year ago on high seas, died in a jail in that country due to unknown reasons, an official said on Monday.
In the fifth such incident since August, Pakistan coastal authorities have apprehended 28 Indian fishermen and seized five boats, a Gujarat-based fishermen's association said on Thursday.
During a virtual meeting of the joint working group on fisheries on Friday, both countries agreed that the use of force could not be justified under any circumstances.
The family members of the fishermen lodged in Pakistani jails say they would vote for those parties in the upcoming elections which assure to bring their relatives back from the neighbouring country.
An Indian Navy ship on a patrol turned out to be the saviour of a large group of fishermen from here when they were allegedly being chased by Sri Lankan naval men close to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), fisheries officials said in Rameshwaram.
Fifty-five Indian fishermen were apprehended and their 10 boats seized by Pakistan authorities near international maritime border line off Kutch coast in Gujarat on Wednesday, according to Porbandar-based National Fishworkers' Forum.
With this, the total number of Indian fishermen apprehended by PMSA in the last 48 hours has gone up to 88.
It is a historic moment as Pakistan has released boats after a gap of 11 years.
Sixty-six Tamil Nadu fishermen set free by a Sri lankan court after being arrested recently by the island navy, arrived in Rameswaram on Wednesday with the Indian Coast Guard repatriating them.
The Indian Coast Guard on Friday seized a Pakistani boat and arrested seven fishermen for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line near Jamnagar.
The Sri Lankan Navy on Thursday arrested 32 Indian fishermen for alleged illegal fishing off the east coast, taking the total number of fishermen arrested during the last two days to nearly 70.
Nine fishermen from Tamil Nadu had been taken into custody by the Sri Lankan navy on charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line.
The Sri Lankan Navy on Wednesday released 42 fishermen arrested by it for allegedly violating the International Maritime Boundary Line, a senior Fisheries Department official said.
Pakistan Maritime Security Agency on Saturday apprehended 18 fishermen from Gujarat along with their three boats near Jakhau port off the state coast, an office-bearer of a fishermen association claimed.
Sri Lankan navy on Saturday handed over 94 Tamil Nadu fishermen taken into custody by them to the Indian Coast Guard at the International Maritime Boundary Line, police said.
Elated after India's abstention at the UN Human Rights Council vote on Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday ordered the release of all Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan custody for poaching.
Any official-level talks between India and Sri Lanka, without any clear-cut understanding on the livelihood issues, could end up in India having to acknowledge bilaterally even more than what it had no hesitation in accepting in Parliament and outside, says N Sathiya Moorthy
At least 12 Pakistani nationals were arrested along with their two boats by the Border Security Force for illegally entering Indian waters near Padala creek in Koteshwar off Kutch in Gujarat.
Colombo seems to be veering to the middle path between China and the US on global matters, but in regional matters of strategic security, it is increasingly identifying with India, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Tamil Nadu government has sought Centre's intervention in securing the release of 43 Indian fishermen arrested recently by the Sri Lankan navy, besides their 55 boats, which is under custody of that government.
Seeking strong diplomatic action from the Centre for release of 28 Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday said the Centre should "not" treat the International Maritime Boundary Line with the island nation as a settled question, as it is a subject matter of litigation in the Supreme Court.
On available evidence, it is still not clear if India was the target or if the occupants on destroyed boat were assigned to carry out any terrorist attack. What is clear however is the boat was no ordinary fishing vessel, says Nitin Gokhale.
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