New Delhi, February 18
Under relentless pressure from India, Sri Lanka today released all 136 Indian fishermen it had apprehended for allegedly poaching in its waters.

The release came following intense parleys between defence personnel of Sri Lanka and officials of the Indian High Commission in Colombo.

Only yesterday, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna had spoken to his Sri Lankan counterpart GL Peiris and asked him to take necessary action for the release of Indian fishermen along with their boats. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna told reporters this afternoon that he had received a message from Peiris that all the arrested Indian fishermen had been released. “The Sri Lanka Government has very successfully intervened and instructed the Attorney General of Sri Lanka and his subordinates to facilitate the release,” he added.

Expressing happiness over the development, he appealed to the fishermen of Tamil Nadu and other regions that they should confine their activities to the Indian waters and refrain from poaching in the Lankan maritime boundary.