A strait is an intuitively formed, narrow, and traversable waterway that generally connects two large water bodies. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a strait is a waterway between two landmasses. An example is the Palk Strait, which exists between Tamil Nadu states, Sri Lanka and India. Palk Strait links Bengal Bay in the northeast with Palk Bay in the southwest; the strait has a depth of less than 9.1m, 85 miles long, and 40 to 85 miles wide (Britannica, 2013). Palk Strait is surrounded by unique features and has high contrast waves around it to the south and north. The waves on the south in Palk Bay are normally sea waves, while that on the north in the Bay of Bengal are generally swelled waves. There are several issues of concern between India and Sri Lanka due to the Palk Strait. Despite an agreement between these two countries 47 years ago about fishing areas, disputes remain a huge problem (Selvachandran, 2021). The construction of the Sethusamdram ship channel project by the India Government has raised new concerns on the environmental effect. This paper will focus on the issues surrounding Palk Strait, conflicts that have resulted, measures of cooperation that are successful, and recommend policy to avoid future disputes.
The issues between India and Sri Lanka over fishing zones remains unsettled for over four decades. Despite an agreement between the two countries 47 years ago, the countries have not yet settled their differences with Indian fishers crossing the maritime border in the Palk strait, Sri Lanka side. In return, the Sri Lanka Navy assaults Indian fishers that sometimes result in death ( Selvachandran, 2021) . The death of four Indian fishers in the hand of Sri Lanka's Navy has again rekindled the conflict. On 18 th January 2021, four Indian fishers were reported missing after they went fishing into the strait ( Selvachandran, 2021) . The Sri Lanka Navy reported having seen the bodies of the four fishermen a few days later. Upon the news reaching Tamil Nadu's shores, protest erupted as the fishermen from India demanded justices and compensation of about $20,620 for the affected families and filed a case against the Sri Lanka Navy. However, Sri Lanka's government rejected the allegation through a letter and instead blamed the fishermen through the official statement. However, those fishermen's death further adds to numerous cases of death and persecution of Indian fishers under the hand of the Sri Lankan government. The government of India has responded to these deaths by lodging a strong case and political step against the Sri Lankan government in its high commission in New Delhi ( Selvachandran, 2021) . The government has continued to seek justice for the affected families by engaging Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry through the Colombo high commission.
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Despite the obvious risk, Indian fishers have constantly continued to cross the maritime border. For centuries Sri Lankan and Indian fishers have been sharing fishing ground without any dispute. However, this situation reverted when the two nations signed four Maritime Boundary Agreements in the 1970s. The agreement defined the country's boundaries respectively based on countries' understanding of the international maritime boundary ( Panda, 2017) . The four agreement's objective was to facilitate the management of resources in the Palk strait and enforce the law. In these agreements, the Katchatheevu Island was relinquished to Sri Lankan government without involving the state of Tamil Nadu ( Panda, 2017) . Therefore, the Indian fishermen are only permitted to access the Island for drying their nest, resting, and attending the St. Anthony's festival. However, there is no clear definition of the maritime boundary between the two nations, resulting in the Indian fishermen trespassing to their neighboring waters, searching for a good catch. Unlike today, between the 1980s and 2009, both Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen communities had easier access to rich waters as the Sri Lankan Navy did not heavily guard the Palk Strait maritime boundary.
For the last decade, Sri Lanka has expressed their concerns over the illegal fishing within the country’s territorial waters across the Palk Strait by Indian fishers. The conflict has stood for over a decade, with both countries arresting fishers for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) which defines Sri Lankan and Indian sea boundaries ( Wickremesekera, 2016) . The Sri Lankan government has proposed a bill that aims at increasing the penalty for Indian fishers caught illegally fishing in its waters. However, the conflict is more complex due to the domestic political element in India. Most Indian fishers who are illegally apprehended fishing in waters belonging to Sri Lanka are Tamils community from Tamil Nadu and claim that the waters that now belong to Sri Lanka have been historically exploited by them ( Panda, 2017) . However, both nations have agreed and approved the United Nations Convention of the ocean law that fails to identify maritime zone grounded on historical claims. More so, the issue of Katchetheevu Island has also increased the conflict between the two nations (Thangavelu, 2016). As the Sri Lankan government has declared Katchetheevu Island sacred land, and Indian fishers are not allowed to fish within it though the Island is uninhabited. This has resulted in conflicts between the fishermen and the Sri Lanka government.
Apart from fishing disputes, the construction of the SethuSumeduram Ship Channel (SSCP) through the Palk strait has resulted in new conflicts. The Indian government has proposed the SSCP project that will link India and Sri Lanka via the shallow straits. However, the Sri Lankan government has complied with the project's commencement that will have adverse implications on the country’s ecology and economy (Ram, 2005). Due to oil leakage, the Sri Lankan maritime resources and environment could be negatively affected. The Sri Lankan government feels that the Indian government has not considered the Sri Lankan maritime and terrestrial environment in their project that could negatively affect the environment ( Wickremesekera, 2016) . Moreover, the Indian government has not measured or reduced the potential impacts on Sri Lanka. India has been keen to dredge the canal to offer a shorter way for ships coming from or going to its southern parts. The Indian and Sri Lankan environmentalists have condemned the project, stating that the project could have disastrous effects on marine and coastal ecosystems.
Both countries have successfully agreed that the utilization of bottom trawling should be stopped. Although the Indian government has been reactant to the fishermen's dialogue, the government responded positively when Sri Lanka's fishermen are persistently pleading for dialogue. The nations agreed on several terms, such as fishing days be reduced to two days a week. Fishers from both nations should also keep a three nautical miles (nm) distance from the coastline to protect Sri Lankan fishers living around those shores ( Samath, 2005) . Additionally, there has been a reduction in fishing trips to a maximum of twelve hours per trip and initiate enforcement and monitoring mechanisms. However, subsequence discussion could not be conducted since India was affected by the tsunami, and the majority of fishers from Sri Lanka were displaced.
I would recommend two courses of action to mitigate the fishing dispute between Sri Lanka and India. First, the Indian government can get back the Kachchatheevu Island lease in infinity, or both countries allow licensed fishers to fish on either maritime waters with designated zones. The former action would allow Sri Lanka to have control and sovereignty of the Kachchatheevu Island but offer it back to Indians on lease in perpetuity to allow Indian fishers to fish in and within it. For instance, the Tin Bigha scenario is a perfect example for the two countries to follow; the India-Bangladesh boundary agreement allowed India to own the Island, but later a permanent lease gave the Bangladesh fishermen permission to use Tin Bigha for noncombatant activities ( Suryanarayan, 2016) . Although the former head of the DMK party and Tamil Nadu's chief have proposed the same action to New Delhi, they cannot influence New Delhi to reopen the matter.
Allowing licensed fishers to fish on either maritime water with designated zones would effectively mitigate the disputes. This move would effectively encourage Colombo to allow licensed fishers from India to conduct their fishing activities in Sri Lanka waters for about 4-6 nm from the IMBL. For example, there was a model in the two countries' 1976 territory agreement that permitted fishers from Sri Lanka, who are licensed to fish on the fertile fishing ground in Wadge Bank for three years ( Suryanarayan, 2016) . However, the fishermen from Sri Lanka would also be allowed to conduct fishing activities in the Exclusive Economic area of India under similar conditions applicable to India's fishers. Although the Tamil Nadu state government has repeatedly supported this course of action, the new Delhi has not yet considered such options keenly.
Conclusively, tension over fishing in the Palk Straits has seriously affected Sri Lanka and India's bilateral relationship. More than 0.5 million fishermen living on either side of the maritime borders have been adversely affected. Fishers from both nations are often arrested and have their boats and other belongings seized to cross into their neighbor's territorial waters. There have been multiple cases when fishers have been killed or injured by the Navy of the concerned government. These conflicts' birth can be traced back between 1974-1976 when the two countries signed an agreement on the maritime boundary. Those agreements demarcate maritime territories without establishing any cooperation mechanism for fishers.
References
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2013, May 14). Adam's Bridge . Encyclopedia Britannica . https://www.britannica.com/place/Adams-Bridge
Panda, A. (2017). India, Sri Lanka Revisit Palk Strait Fishing Dispute in Ministerial Talks. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2017/01/india-sri-lanka-revisit-palk-strait-fishing-dispute-in-ministerial-talks/
Ram, A. (2005). Sethusamudram project in Tamil Nadu raises environmental, economic fears. India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/states/story/20050516-sethusamudram-project-in-tamil-nadu-raises-environmental-economic-fears-787878-2005-05-16#:~:text=The%20Project%20implementation%20may%20damage,be%20disastrous%20for%20the%20ecosystem.
Samath, F. (2005). Strait hit. Down to Earth. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/strait-hit-9728
Selvachandran, J. (2021). Fishing in Troubled Waters: The Palk Strait Dispute Flares Up. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2021/02/fishing-in-troubled-waters-the-palk-strait-dispute-flares-up/
Suryanarayan, V. (2016). The India–Sri Lanka Fisheries Dispute: Creating a Win-Win in the Palk Bay. Carnegie India . https://carnegieindia.org/2016/09/09/india-sri-lanka-fisheries-dispute-creating-win-win-in-palk-bay-pub-64538
Thangavelu, D. (2016). Katchatheevu: The big issue over a small island. Live Mint. https://www.livemint.com/Politics/acjYPxP6XuKnlTLqJ2P3QI/Katchatheevu-The-big-issue-over-a-small-island.html
Wickremesekera, C. (2016). The Tamil Separatist War in Sri Lanka . Routledge.
