The Indian Coast Guard has issued an advisory to the fishermen not to venture into the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). The move comes close on the heels of the December 31 incident when a suspicious Pakistani boat allegedly blew itself up nearly 365 km off the Porbandar coast after a hot chase by the Coast Guard. The advisory has reportedly been issued to preempt any attack on Indian fishermen from the Pakistan side. Coast Guard, however, maintained that the advisory was routine. On Tuesday, Coast Guard had called a meeting of office bearers of all fishermen associations of Gujarat at Okha in Devbhumi-Dwarka district. The meeting was also attended by president of South Gujarat Trawlers’ Association, V S Tandel. Speaking to The Indian Express, Tandel said: “In the meeting, the Coast Guard officials took up the issue of December 31 incident and instructed the fishermen not to venture deep into the sea and keep safe distance at 40 nautical miles short of the IMBL. The coast guard officials told us that they suspected that there might be an attack on Indian fishermen from Pakistan side. And accordingly, we have passed on the message to our fishermen across the state.” However, Commander - Indian Coast Guard (North West Region) Kuldipsingh Sheoran said the meeting was one of their regular monthly meetings with fishermen. He confirmed that fishermen had been advised not to cross the IMBL for better ‘catch’. “Generally, the fishermen cross the IMBL for better catch of fish. We have advised them not do that,” he said, while denying that the advisory was issued in the wake of the December 31 incident. “Fishermen are like eyes-and-ears of the Coast Guard, so we also asked them to be careful in the sea while fishing and to inform us immediately if they see anything suspicious,” he added.
