President seeks India’s help to repatriate 10 wanted Sri Lankan criminals

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has sought India’s assistance to repatriate 10 alleged drug traffickers and organised criminals currently in Indian custody after fleeing Sri Lanka.

The President made the request during talks with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, whose three-day official visit to Sri Lanka ended on 10 September.

Dissanayake told Singh that drug trafficking had become Sri Lanka’s most serious national security threat and called for stronger bilateral cooperation to tackle criminal networks operating across the region.

He said the Indian Ocean was increasingly being used as a major drug trafficking route and briefed Singh on measures taken by the Government to combat narcotics and organised crime.

The President also raised concerns over repeated incursions by Indian fishing vessels into Sri Lankan waters and the use of destructive fishing methods, including bottom trawling.

He said fishing remained a key livelihood for communities in the Northern Province and that incursions by Indian fishermen were damaging marine resources and biodiversity.

According to figures presented by the President, Sri Lankan authorities arrested 236 Indian fishing boats between 2020 and 2025 for entering Sri Lankan waters illegally. A further 22 boats have been arrested this year.

A total of 1,793 Indian fishermen were arrested during the period, of whom 1,738 have since been released. Authorities have released 19 fishing boats and confiscated 158, while court proceedings are continuing in relation to 59 arrests.

The issue of fishing incursions and destructive fishing practices has remained a longstanding source of tension between fishing communities in northern Sri Lanka and their Indian counterparts.