India on Monday summoned a senior Pakistani diplomat to protest the killing of a fisherman in an incident of unprovoked firing by Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency.
One fisherman was killed and another seriously injured when personnel from the MSA fired at the fishing boat Jalpari in waters off the coast of Gujarat on Saturday.
The political counsellor at the Pakistan high commission in New Delhi was summoned to the external affairs ministry and a strong protest was lodged over the incident of unprovoked firing at Indian fishermen, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
“The Indian side condemned this deplorable action by the Pakistani agency of firing at an Indian fishing boat and causing loss of life, which was in contravention of all established international practices and bilateral understandings,” one of the people cited above said.
The Indian side made it clear that Pakistani authorities should consider the issue of fishermen as a humanitarian and livelihood matter, the people said.
The Pakistan government was asked to conduct an inquiry into the incident and to instruct its security forces to refrain from acts of unprovoked firing, the people added.
The injured fisherman was rushed to a hospital at Okha in Gujarat soon after the incident of firing. India had taken serious note of the incident.
India and Pakistan detain hundreds of fishermen each year on charges of violating the maritime boundary. Their vessels are also often seized. The fishermen detained by Pakistan are sometimes held for months even after completing their prison terms.
There have also been instances in the past of the MSA attacking Indian fishing vessels.
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