New Delhi will take up the issue with the Pakistan Government through diplomatic channels, said the sources

The government has taken “serious note” of the killing of an Indian fisherman in “unprovoked firing” by Pakistani maritime security personnel off the coast of Gujarat on Saturday, sources in New Delhi said.

New Delhi will take up the issue with the Pakistan Government through diplomatic channels, said the sources.

Sridhar Ramesh Chamre, 32, was killed when the personnel of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) opened fire on a fishing boat, ‘Jalpari’, which had sailed from Okha in Gujarat. Chamre lived in Thane in Maharashtra. Another fisherman on the boat was also injured in firing by the PMSA personnel, said the sources.

Islamabad, however, claimed that the Indian fishing boat had “illegally transgressed” into Pakistani territorial waters. The PMSA personnel had attempted to “warn” the boat and asked it to change the course to return to the territorial waters of India. The boat however had not changed the course and the PMSA personnel had to open fire, according to a statement issued from Islamabad.

Pakistan claimed that its personnel had arrested six other Indians, who were onboard the boat. New Delhi, however, had not confirmed any Indian being arrested by the maritime security agency of Pakistan.

“We have taken serious note of this incident. We are going to take up this issue diplomatically with the Pakistan side. The matter is under investigation and further details will be shared in due course,” a source in New Delhi said.