As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a visit to Sri Lanka, the age-old Katchatheevu island issue has been brought up, with Opposition parties calling on him to raise the issue with the neighbouring nation. Political leaders such as Congress and DMK have been making shrill noises over recovering the island, which was initially surrendered to Sri Lanka via agreements entered into in 1974 and 1976.
On Thursday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to PM Modi, urging the recovery of Katchatheevu to safeguard the rights of Indian fishermen. Likewise, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari expressed concern on Saturday, saying, “the Katchatheevu island issue has become a serious issue for Indian citizens and fishermen,” and further said that the Prime Minister “should raise this issue firmly.”
The Tamil Nadu Legislature had passed a resolution on April 2 calling for the return of the island so as to preserve the customary fishing rights of Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay.
Background of the Island
Katchatheevu is a tiny, unpopulated island in the Palk Strait, traditionally utilized by fishermen to rest, dry their nets, and pray. Previously under the jurisdiction of the Raja of Ramnad (now in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district), the island came under the Madras Presidency in British times. Both India and Sri Lanka claimed it even after independence, particularly regarding access to fishing.
As reported by the Sri Lankan Guardian on April 2, 2024, the matter was formally brought up in December 1968 when Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake met with Indian PM Indira Gandhi and asserted, “there was no question as such of sovereignty over Kachchativu (Katchatheevu) inasmuch it was part of Sri Lanka’s territory.” India challenged this assertion, basing it on historical ownership and corroborating evidence from the Raja of Ramnad.
Agreement Between Sri Lanka and India
Efforts to settle the dispute over ownership became more intensified during the subsequent years. In 1974, Indian PM Indira Gandhi and Sri Lankan PM Sirimavo Bandaranaike entered into an official agreement, demarcating the sea boundary from the Palk Strait to Adam’s Bridge.
According to a joint declaration on June 28, 1974, the sea boundary was demarcated ‘in Gary’ conformity with the historical evidence, legal international principles and precedents, with Katchatheevu being one mile off the west coast of the uninhabited” island and well within Sri Lanka’s waters.
Article 4 of the accord defined that the two countries will both have full sovereignty and sole jurisdiction over territory lying on the country’s side of the divide. It further stated that while adding a safeguard providing that “Indian fishermen and pilgrims will be able to go to the island as earlier and will not need to ask for travel certificates or visas in Sri Lanka to that effect,
A second treaty in 1976 further defined the maritime boundary between Sri Lanka and India in the Gulf of Mannar and Bay of Bengal.
Political Debate Revived
The problem came into renewed public focus when Prime Minister Modi, in 2023, had tweeted that the Congress had ‘callously gave away’ Katchatheevu in the 1970s. It renewed the debates cutting across party lines. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also entered into the debate, saying the issue had been “hidden too long from the gaze of the public.
A number of previous Tamil Nadu leaders, such as J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi, had also brought up the topic in the past, condemning the step for negating the livelihood and rights of Indian fishermen in nearby waters.
Since the island remains symbolically and financially important for fishermen communities, the Opposition is now urging PM Modi to raise the issue again during his diplomatic outreach to Sri Lanka.
