The revival of the Katchatheevu island difficulty, a when-solved maritime difficulty involving India and Sri Lanka, has introduced a new twist to India’s electoral campaign, even as the 7-phased typical election is set to start out on April 19. It has palpable implications for the two key functions beneath the opposition INDIA alliance—the Indian Countrywide Congress (INC) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a regional celebration in the south Indian condition of Tamil Nadu (TN). Equally INC and DMK are now set less than scanner for compromising India’s nationwide interest.
It all commenced with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on Katchatheevu, sparking a new wave of contestations. Modi’s characterization of the difficulty as ‘eye-opening and startling’ indicated the popular public outcry it incited, casting question on the dependability of the INC-led government’s decision to cede manage of the island. Modern disclosures introduced to mild by TN leaders of BJP—hinting at the Congress government’s willingness to abandon claims in excess of Katchatheevu—have fuelled Modi’s criticism.
A day after Modi’s responses, India’s Minister of Exterior Affairs (EAM), S. Jaishankar, also released a scathing assault on the INC and DMK, accusing them of shirking obligation pertaining to the Katchatheevu problem. Addressing a press meeting in Delhi, Jaishankar emphasized the public’s correct to transparency pertaining to the instances encompassing the relinquishment of Katchatheevu. He explained: “In May perhaps of 1961, PM Nehru wrote that he attaches no worth at all to this minimal island and he would have no hesitation in giving up claim to it. He wrote that he doesn’t like issue like this being pending indefinitely and getting raised once more and all over again in Parliament. He noticed it as a nuisance.” Jaishankar questioned the motives driving surrendering not only the island but also the fishing rights of Indian fishermen, in spite of assurances specified to Parliament in 1976. Jaishankar elucidated the 1974 arrangement concerning India and Sri Lanka, which delineated a maritime boundary, putting Katchatheevu on the Sri Lankan side. He pressured the require for diplomatic dialogue with Sri Lankan authorities to look for resolution. Giving context to the situation, Jaishankar highlighted the alarming frequency of Indian fishermen currently being detained and their vessels seized by Sri Lanka more than the previous two a long time. This, he asserted, forms the backdrop of the ongoing discussions.
Jaishankar dismissed the idea that the problem experienced arisen abruptly, citing correspondence from the Main Minister of Tamil Nadu and his possess considerable engagement with the subject. He emphasized that this is not a dormant concern but alternatively a pressing difficulty demanding speedy interest. In addition, Jaishankar pointed out that in the past twenty years, 6184 Indian fishermen have been detained by Sri Lanka and 1175 Indian fishing vessels have been seized, detained, or apprehended by Sri Lanka.
As EAM claimed, the concern had emerged many instances right before, with rising incidents of Indian fishermen being arrested by the Lankan navy. For occasion, on July 21, 2022, in reply to a dilemma on the ownership appropriate of Katchatheevu island lifted by Vaiko in the Rajya Sabha, the minister of point out in the Ministry of Exterior Affairs stated: “The Government of India concluded maritime boundary agreements with Sri Lanka in 1974 and 1976. Beneath the Agreements, the Island of Katchatheevu lies on the Sri Lankan facet of the India-Sri Lanka Intercontinental Maritime Boundary Line. Presently, the make a difference relating to the Katchatheevu Island difficulty is sub-judice in the Hon’ble Supreme Court docket of India.” The minister also observed that the issues pertaining to Indian fishermen were being taken up by diplomatic channels and recognized mechanisms.
Katchatheevu, positioned in the Palk Strait involving India and Sri Lanka, was a focal point of maritime dispute and political manoeuvrings. Aside from its religious importance—particularly with St. Anthony’s church—the geopolitical worth of the island had attracted the focus of equally nations around the world. Nevertheless, in 1974, beneath Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s management, India relinquished regulate of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka as element of the Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Settlement. While aimed at strengthening bilateral ties, issues were being also lifted about its impact on the common legal rights of Indian fishermen.
Nevertheless, the transfer of Katchatheevu has remained contentious, specially in TN politics, wherever sentiments are affected by historic ties and problems for fishermen’s livelihoods. Leaders like J Jayalalitha and Main Minister MK Stalin vehemently opposed the determination, arguing that it was created with out consulting the Tamil Nadu point out assembly and experienced adverse effects on Tamil fishermen.
The decades-extensive Sri Lankan civil war more complicated issues, temporarily diverting notice from the maritime situation but reigniting tensions write-up-war. This led to incidents involving Indian fishermen getting apprehended by the Sri Lankan navy. Even with these difficulties, calls for for revisiting the Katchatheevu concern persisted, reflecting deep-rooted fears and political significance in the broader geopolitical context of the Indian Ocean location.
Through a parliamentary debate final yr, Primary Minister Modi indirectly criticized users of the ruling DMK in TN, reminding them of their late leader M Karunanidhi’s function in consenting to the transfer of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka. This remark sparked reactions in Sri Lanka, with some interpreting it as a refined phone for India to reclaim Katchatheevu. Nonetheless, mainstream Sri Lankan get-togethers refrained from commenting, perhaps because of to India’s significant support all through Sri Lanka’s financial crisis.
In reality, the reference to Katchatheevu by Modi, past year, coincided with endeavours to greatly enhance bilateral financial cooperation among India and Sri Lanka, which includes initiatives like underwater petroleum pipelines and electrical energy cable connections. Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal for a road linkage involving the two nations also drew attention. However, observers had warned that any perceived shift in India’s stance on Katchatheevu could affect these attempts and jeopardize strategies for the road linkage project, aimed at boosting trade and tourism.
Katchatheevu, however a compact uninhabited island, holds sizeable historical and religious value for Tamil fishermen from both equally India and Sri Lanka. However, controversies emerged, such as the discovery of a Buddha statue on the island, prompting considerations and diplomatic responses from both of those international locations. The ongoing dispute more than Katchatheevu ongoing right after the bilateral agreements in 1974 and 1976, which assigned the island to Sri Lanka, even with objections from Indian fishermen and Tamil Nadu politicians.
Nonetheless, Sri Lanka continuously taken care of a policy rooted in historic facts regarding the ownership of Katchatheevu, performing exercises jurisdiction and handle around the island. Evidence courting again to 1924, in accordance to Colombo, advised that Study Officers of the Governing administration of India acknowledged Katchatheevu as component of then Ceylon as early as 1876. Additional, Katchatheevu has been below Sri Lankan jurisdiction since the period of Portuguese and British rule.
It is true that the concern of Katchatheevu originally surfaced in 1921 during discussions to demarcate fisheries boundaries in between India and Ceylon. Subsequent bilateral talks tackled maritime boundary delineation, culminating in the 1974 Settlement about historic waters in the Palk Strait and Palk Bay, officially affirming Sri Lanka’s sovereignty more than the island. Write-up 4 of the Arrangement establishes just about every state’s sovereignty and unique jurisdiction above their respective maritime boundaries, together with Katchatheevu island inside Sri Lankan waters. Post five ensures that Indian fishermen and pilgrims keep obtain to Katchatheevu without having the want for travel files or visas, when Write-up six preserves the regular navigational rights of vessels from equally Sri Lanka and India in every other’s waters.
The preparatory notes primary to the finalization of the rights of the two functions indicated that below Posting 5, pilgrims’ legal rights had been restricted to attending the yearly church feast, even though fishermen have been granted access to dry their nets and capture. Consequently, thinking of the provisions of both equally Post five and 6 together, Sri Lanka argued, it is obvious that no fishing rights are conferred on Indian fishermen or vessels to interact in fishing in Sri Lankan waters. In continuation of this procedure, an Settlement on the Maritime Boundary concerning Sri Lanka and India in the Gulf of Mannar and the Bay of Bengal, alongside with associated matters, was signed in 1976. This Settlement even more elucidated the positions recognized by the 1974 Arrangement amongst the two nations. Post five of the 1976 Settlement stipulates the pursuing:
Each Bash shall exercise sovereignty more than the historic waters, territorial sea, and islands slipping within its respective boundary. Each and every Party shall maintain sovereign rights and exceptional jurisdiction more than the Continental Shelf and the Special Economic Zone (EEZ), as effectively as their sources, regardless of whether residing or non-living, inside its boundary. Each and every Social gathering shall regard navigation legal rights by means of its territorial sea and exceptional financial zone in accordance with its guidelines, restrictions, and international law. Colombo argued that these provisions leave no question pertaining to fishing legal rights. TN leaders constantly contested this place.
The historical assert around Katchatheevu remained contentious till the mid-seventies, with both equally India and Sri Lanka asserting possession based on conflicting historic files. Even though India’s acquiescence to the cession of Katchatheevu can be attributed to political and strategic factors, the difficulty ongoing to be politically sensitive, especially in Tamil Nadu.
Even with authorized difficulties and political rhetoric, successive Indian governments have affirmed Katchatheevu’s standing as Sri Lankan territory, signalling a reluctance to reopen negotiations on the make any difference. This posture is broken now. This is undoubtedly the initially time that the ruling NDA’s top echelons have appear out in open with a placement that the INC and DMK were not sincere on the Katchatheevu challenge which remained a complex and contentious factor of India-Sri Lanka maritime boundary, with political, financial, and historical dimensions. Key Minister Modi’s remarks, as effectively as EAM’s press convention, have triggered debates and lifted problems about the implications for bilateral cooperation and regional stability.
The fears of Tamil individuals are organic supplied the extensive historical past of the fishermen being commonly arrested. Now, there is a query looming: Can the 1974 and 1976 agreements be terminated dependent on proof of the violations of their provisions? For the ruling dispensation in New Delhi, which aims to make electoral gains in South India, the issue carries sizeable bodyweight. They know that the concern could open a new and sensitive front in the ongoing electoral struggle, with accusations versus the former INC and DMK governments of surrendering India’s national passions. For the individuals of Tamil Nadu, the difficulty is not just sensitive but also a issue of lifestyle and livelihood, with profound implications for their day by day lives and economic perfectly-becoming.
K.M. Seethi is ICSSR Senior Fellow and the Tutorial Advisor of the Intercontinental Centre for Polar Reports at Mahatma Gandhi College, Kerala. He also served as Senior Professor and Dean of Worldwide Relations at MGU. The views and thoughts expressed in this write-up are those people of the creator.
