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.
It is a historic moment as Pakistan has released boats after a gap of 11 years.
Fifty fishermen from Nagapattinam and Karaikal have been arrested by the Sri Lankan
They were arrested by the Sri Lankan navy with assistance from the coastal guard officials, Sri Lankan officials said.
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.
With this, the total number of Indian fishermen apprehended by PMSA in the last 48 hours has gone up to 88.
According to reports, two boats are from Okha and three from Porbander.
Pakistan Maritime Security Agency arrested the fishermen and seized the boats off Jakhau coast in Kutch district.
The CG and ATS personnel seized the boat Al Sakar which had 50 kg heroin on board, in the Arabian Sea, the official said.
This is the biggest and the fourth major incident of apprehending Indian fishermen by the PMSA since January this year.
Earlier, in September, authorities seized around 3,000 kg of the drug at the Mundra port in Gujarat's Kutch district.
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.
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.
A Tamil Nadu fisherman on Friday sustained bullet injuries when the Navy "fired warning shots" in mid-sea and Chief Minister M K Stalin sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to prevent such incidents.
Pakistan on Thursday arrested at least 40 Indian fishermen for allegedly straying into its waters while on a routine fishing trip, a news channel reported.
Parrikar was originally scheduled to travel to Bangladesh much earlier this month but the visit was delayed.
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.
Thirty-eight Tamil Nadu fishermen were on Thursday arrested by Sri Lankan navy for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary line, three days after fishermen representatives of India and Sri Lanka met to discuss the vexed fishing issue.
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.
Taking exception to the continued arrests of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu government has told the Centre that Colombo's "dubious actions" has resulted in the situation at sea remaining "precarious."
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.
Taking up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister E K Palaniswami, in a letter, said the state government was "extremely" concerned over such incidents
Saturday's Quad meeting in Delaware is taking place against the backdrop of China's assertive behaviour in the South China Sea, its sabre-rattling in the Taiwan Strait and increasing footprints in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday said he views the current situation in Ukraine as an issue of humanity and human values and not of politics or economy even as he called for respecting international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
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.
The Lower House, showing rare unanimity, passed the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill to allow the operationalisation of the 1974 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary agreement.
The Assam-Mizoram violence is an outcome of BJP trying too hard to 'integrate' distinct northeastern states, explains Shekhar Gupta.
Muthayya Fernandes, a fisherman from Rameswaram, was imprisoned in Sri Lanka for crossing the International Boundary in search of fish.
China has taken a position of non-acceptance and non-participation on the jurisdiction by the International Court of Arbitration in a case the Philippines has brought against China's claims to nearly all of the South China Sea, Abraham Denmark, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for East Asia, told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing.
New Delhi remains a priggish suitor to Washington's overtures, but it has begun appreciating potential tech benefits to ties with the US.
India and Bangladesh have opened a new chapter in their ties as they settled the 41-year-old boundary dispute and promised to do more in other areas amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of a fresh line of credit of $2 billion (Rs 12,821 crore) to the neighbouring country.
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
A sensational interview on India-China ties, with the man most qualified to answer.
In anticipation of a verdict to be delivered by the International Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Tuesday, China has orchestrated a worldwide campaign to defuse its findings.
Sri Lanka's signals -- that it is ready for 'joint fishing' initiatives -- and Tamil Nadu fishermen's sticking to commitments have paved the way for a negotiated settlement on a long festering issue, says N Sathiya Moorthy
An international tribunal in the Hague has ruled in favour of the Philippines.
'It is a pattern of behaviour of the Chinese that whenever a Chinese leader visits India or an Indian leader visits China, some incidents take place.' 'When Modi visits China, we should look out for some similar demonstration by the Chinese.'
"I've spoken with Foreign (External Affairs) Minister (S) Jaishankar a number of times about this (Chinese aggressive actions). The Chinese took incredibly aggressive actions. The Indians have done their best to respond to that," Pompeo told reporters at a news conference in Washington, DC.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances