Sri Lanka, India to discuss bilateral ties

Sri Lanka will discuss with India the status of their bilateral relations when its External Affairs Minister, Prof. G.L. Peiris visits New Delhi later this month, Sri Lanka's External Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday. Peiris is scheduled to visit India at the end of this month where he will have crucial talks with India's External Affairs Minister Salman Kurshid. "All aspects of the bilateral relationship between India and Sri Lanka will be discussed," the Sri Lankan External Affairs Ministry said. The meeting comes as attempts are taken to ease tensions over a fishing dispute which threatened to strain the relationship between Sri Lanka and India. The External Affairs Ministry said the release of fishermen on a reciprocal basis by the governments of Sri Lanka and India, which began after the telephone conversation last week between Peiris and Kurshid, was proceeding as a continuing initiative. An initial batch of 20 fishermen were released by Sri Lanka and India on Monday and this was followed a few hours later by the release of another 32 Indian fishermen by Sri Lanka and an equal number of fishermen held in India. Sri Lanka's Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Dr. Rajitha Senarathna will have talks in New Delhi on Wednesday with Sherard Pawar, the minister of Agriculture and Food Processing Industries of India, on the main elements of a durable solution to the problem of illicit fishing and the use of prohibited methods, which have given rise to vexed problems over a sustained period, the External Affairs Ministry said.