The Sri Lankan authorities will hand over the fishermen to the Indian consulate after which they will be repatriated to India after completing all the necessary COVID-19 protocols.
The development came as the local fishermen in the North have been protesting for over a week to stop the Indians from entering the Sri Lankan waters for fishing.
Sixty-five Indian fishermen in nine trawlers have been detained by the Sri Lankan navy for allegedly violating the international maritime border.
The arrest came as the group was departing Point Pedro in the northern Jaffna peninsula, Naval spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said, adding that among the arrested, 38 were men, 28 women and 14 children.
The Sri Lankan Navy on Wednesday claimed that it has killed at least 40 Tamil Tiger rebels when it confronted a flotilla of Sea Tiger boats in the seas off Vettilaikerni in the northern Jaffna peninsula.
It was started when the LTTE launched a suicide attack on a ship with Indian crew.
Sri Lankans on Thursday voted in large numbers in the bitterly contested presidential election in which incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa is seeking a record third term against his friend-turned-foe Maithripala Sirisena, with an unusually high voter turnout in Tamil and Muslim areas.
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
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