New Delhi: Forward of the Lok Sabha elections, a political row has erupted over the arid and uninhabited 1.6km lengthy Katchatheevu Island, which India acknowledged as Sri Lankan territory in 1974.
The controversy erupted following a Proper to Data (RTI) request filed by Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) president Okay. Annamalai.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Exterior Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar blamed the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) for callously freely giving the island.
Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed a maritime boundary settlement along with her Sri Lankan counterpart Sirimavo Bandaranaike, which acknowledged the island, situated within the Palk Strait, about 24 km northeast of Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu and about 22 km southwest of the Delft Islands. in Sri Lanka, as a part of the Sri Lankan territory.
Modi posted on ‘X’ (previously Twitter) that the Congress on the time ‘heartlessly gave away’ the island.
Eye-opening and stunning!
New info present how Congress callously gave away #Katchatheevu.
This has angered each Indian and reaffirmed in individuals’s minds that we are able to by no means belief Congress!
Weakening India’s unity, integrity and pursuits has been Congress’s mode of operation for…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 31, 2024
On Monday, Jaishankar alleged that the Congress and the DMK are chargeable for the state of affairs the place Sri Lankan authorities have detained 6,184 Indian fishermen and 1,175 fishing vessels over the past 20 years.
Nevertheless, one other 2015 RTI response supplied by the Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) and shared by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on ‘X’ famous that there was no “acquisition or disposal.” of territory belonging to India” as a part of the 1974 settlement, as the world in query had by no means been demarcated.
Perhaps @MEAIndia will be capable of tackle these discrepancies in its RTI response in 2015 in comparison with 2024.
In line with the 2015 RTI response, when the present Overseas Secretary was serving as FS, it was mentioned: “This was not about buying or ceding territory belonging to India… pic.twitter.com/OIWlej3YVs— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) April 1, 2024
ThePrint reached the MEA in regards to the questions raised by the 2015 RTI response through textual content message, however didn’t obtain a response till the publication of this report. The report will likely be up to date as soon as a response is obtained.
In the meantime, an evaluation of the official paperwork reveals that not one of the border agreements between India and Sri Lanka use the phrase ‘ceding’ in reference to territory. It merely states the latitudes and longitudes that will type the maritime boundary between India and Sri Lanka. ThePrint explains the historical past behind Katchatheevu Island.
Additionally learn: ‘Blessed island given away’ – Modi invokes Katchatheevu, Congress calls it ‘distortion of historical past’
Historical past of Katchatheevu
On Sunday, Annamalai publicly mentioned paperwork obtained By the RTI response, which incorporates two paperwork: a background doc ready by the MEA in 1968 and a report of the dialogue on a gathering between the then Exterior Affairs Minister and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. ThePrint has accessed the RTI response.
The island is house to St Anthony’s Church, administered by the Diocese of Jaffna in Sri Lanka. The query of possession was first raised in 1921 at a convention on fishing rights between representatives of the Madras Authorities and the then Authorities of Ceylon.
The British Raj on the time accepted the Ceylonese declare to the island “topic to the zamindari rights of the Raja of Ramnad – who claimed to personal the rights to the island,” the MEA backgrounder printed in 1968 famous.
The MEA famous that the minutes of the convention appeared to have been forwarded to the Admiralty in Britain, which raised objections on the time and was subsequently not ratified by the then authorities of India.
Nevertheless, the Ceylon authorities retained de facto management of the island.
The problem arose between the 2 neighboring international locations when, quickly after independence, the Indian Navy knowledgeable Colombo of its intention to conduct workouts on the island.
Ceylon had acknowledged on the time that “prior” approval was required, and the Indian workouts weren’t held.
In 1955, the federal government in Ceylon introduced its intention to arrange goal apply on the island to New Delhi, once more bringing the difficulty to the eye of the Authorities of India.
The MEA famous on the time that the then Legal professional Normal of India, MC Setalvad, indicated in an advisory opinion that sovereignty over the island favors it being a part of India.
The MEA Authorized Division famous in 1960 that there was a authorized case for India, however that the federal government ought to no less than consider acquiring fishing rights “across the island”.
At the moment, the dispute over the island’s sovereignty was not resolved as a result of inside state of affairs in Sri Lanka, then Commonwealth Secretary YD Gundevia famous within the MEA. backgrounder.
Maritime Boundary Agreements with Sri Lanka
In 1974, India acknowledged Katchatheevu as a part of Sri Lanka’s territory underneath a maritime boundary settlement signed of Indira Gandhi and Bandaranaike.
The settlement coated the waters from Adam’s Bridge to Palk Strait. Nevertheless, Article 5 of the settlement allowed Indians to go to Katchatheevu with out the necessity for a journey doc comparable to a visa.
Article 4 of the settlement emphasised that each international locations can have “sovereignty” and “unique jurisdiction” over the waters, islands, continental shelf and subsoil, based mostly on the Demarcated Line, which locations Kathchatheevu Island inside Sri Lankan territory.
A sequel settlement in 1976 on the borders of the Gulf of Mannar and the Bay of Bengal has an analogous clause, however makes no point out of the best of Indians to go to Katchatheevu with out the requirement of a journey doc.
Article 5 of the 1976 settlement acknowledged: “Every Celebration shall have sovereign rights and unique jurisdiction over the continental shelf and unique financial zone, in addition to over their sources, dwelling or non-living, falling on its aspect of the aforesaid boundary. ”
Tamil Nadu needed the island again
In 1991, the Tamil Nadu Meeting handed a decision demanding the repossession of Katchatheevu.
In 2008, the then Prime Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa approached the Supreme Court docket, claiming that the 2 border agreements between India and Sri Lanka had been unconstitutional, and searching for annulment of the agreements.
In his 2008 speech, then Sri Lankan Overseas Minister Rohitha Bogollagama made it clear that any annulment of the agreements by India’s Supreme Court docket wouldn’t be binding on his nation.
Throughout the listening to on petitions searching for Supreme Court docket intervention to facilitate the discharge of arrested Indian fishermen, A mentionedLegal professional Normal Mukul Rohatgi had advised the Supreme Court docket in 2014 that it was unattainable to retrieve the island from Sri Lanka. “To get it again now, now we have to go to warfare,” he had mentioned.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
Additionally learn: ‘Sri Lankan authorities seizes our boats, arrests our males’ – why TN fishermen boycott Katchatheevu competition
