After bodies of four deceased fishermen were recovered in Palk Strait, India on Friday said its common understanding with Sri Lanka was that the fishermen issue has to be handled in a humanitarian manner. This came a day after New Delhi lodged a strong protest with Colombo over the death of three Indian fishermen in a collision between their vessel and a naval craft of the island nation.

Four fishermen—three Indian nationals and a Sri Lankan national—ventured into Palk Strait from Tamil Nadu on January 18  and went missing on Monday. Within two days, the bodies of the four fishermen were recovered by the Sri Lankan Navy from Palk Strait.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan Navy reportedly said that the boats of the fisherman sank while they were resisting being arrested after entering the Sri Lankan waters. 

India expressed shock over the death of the Indian fishermen and lodged a strong protest with the Sri Lankan foreign ministry.

"These issues have been on the agenda of bilateral discussions between the two sides and there is a realisation at the highest level that these are humanitarian issues," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at a media briefing.

"There is a common understanding that this matter has to be handled in a humanitarian manner. There are well-established bilateral mechanisms to deal with the issue," he added.

The Union Ministry of External Affairs also said a strong demarche was made to the Sri Lankan Acting High Commissioner here while the Indian envoy in Colombo also lodged a protest with the country's foreign ministry over the incident.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and insisted the incident be inquired through the High Commission. He announced Rs 10 lakh compensation to each family and government job to the immediate kin of the deceased fishermen.

(With TNM inputs)