Efforts are on to bring back the fishermen detained by the Iranian authorities, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan has said.
Speaking to the media after visiting the family members of the fishermen detained in Iran at Anchuthengu here on Thursday, the Minister said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indian Embassy have confirmed where the fishermen had been detained after contacting the Iranian authorities.
An Indian delegation will soon meet them and the procedures for the same are under way. Indian authorities will also exert diplomatic pressure on Tehran to ensure the safe release of the fishermen, he said.
Recalling the recent safe repatriation of Kollam natives detained in Nigeria, the Minister said the current ruling dispensation at the Centre was more proactive on such issues at the international level.
The Iranian authorities recently detained 11 fishermen from India, including seven from Kerala – five from Anchuthengu in Thiruvananthapuram and two from Paravoor in Kollam – who went for deep-sea fishing last week from Ajman in the United Arab Emirates. They were reportedly detained after inadvertently crossing into Iranian waters.
