Kachchatheevu Issue: Sri Lankan Minister Says ‘Not Unusual To Hear Such Noises During Election Time’

As the issue concerning Kachchatheevu heats up in India, the Sri Lankan Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda has said it is “not unusual” to hear such claims and counterclaims about the 285-acre island during the election season.

In 1974, India, under the Congress government, ceded the island to Sri Lanka, followed by the pact on fishermen’s rights in 1976. The controversy surrounding the transfer and the restricted rights has intensified ahead of a general election in India. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has raised concerns about how Sri Lanka has detained more than 6,000 Indian fishermen and 1,175 fishing vessels over the last 20 years.

“It is the election time in India, it is not unusual to hear such noises of claims and counterclaims about Kachchatheevu,” Devananda told reporters in Jaffna on Thursday. “I think India is acting on its interests to secure this place to ensure Sri Lankan fishermen would not have any access to that area and that Sri Lanka should not claim any rights in that resourceful area,” Devananda said. The statements on “reclaiming” Kachchatheevu from Sri Lanka’s hold has “no ground,” the Sri Lankan minister said.

‘Overlooking national interests’

This remark came two days after Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said the issue was settled 50 years ago and there was no need to revisit it. “There is no controversy. They are having an internal political debate about who is responsible. Other than that, no one is talking about claiming Katchatheevu,” he told the domestic Hiru television channel on Wednesday. “I don’t think it will come up,” he said, adding that no one had yet raised the question of a change in the status of the island, located 33 km off India’s coast in the Palk Strait that divides the neighbours.

READ MORE: Sri Lanka Says Katchatheevu Issue Settled 50 Years Ago, No Need To Revisit It

Back-to-back statements from Sri Lankan politicians came days after the Narendra Modi government targeted the Congress Party and its ally the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu accusing them of overlooking national interests in the ceding of Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974. The BJP has also been targeting the two parties for not ensuring the rights of the fishermen wanting to fish in waters around the Katchatheevu island.

The Sri Lankan minister said according to the 1974 agreement fishermen from both sides could do fishing in the territorial waters of both countries. But it was later reviewed and amended in 1976. Accordingly, fishermen from both countries were banned from fishing in neighbouring waters. Devananda stressed, “There claims to be a place called West Bank which is located below Kanyakumari – it is a much bigger area with extensive sea resources – it is 80 times bigger than Kachchatheevu, India secured it at the 1976 review agreement.”

‘Tamil Nadu should know the truth’

Stepping up his attack against the DMK, Jaishankar alleged on Thursday the regional party was very much a party to the then Central government’s negotiations with Sri Lanka on Katchatheevu island and the outcome five decades ago. As the issue continued to dominate the poll campaign in Tamil Nadu, Jaishankar claimed that agreements could be reached between India and Sri Lanka on the island after the then DMK government was kept in the loop.

“I think what is most important is that the people of Tamil Nadu should know the truth. How did it happen? It happens because when the Central government was negotiating this issue, they were actually consulting the then state government, which was led by the DMK, but that was kept as a secret. “So, DMK was very much a party to these negotiations, very much a party to this outcome,” the Minister said, responding to a query during an interaction with the media here.

Citing documents that became public via the RTI, he said what they showed was that from 1973 onwards, the then Central government and Foreign ministry held continuous and detailed consultation with the Tamil Nadu government and the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi personally on this matter. “And in fact, the position of the DMK was, “Okay, we agree with all of these, but you know, in public, we will not support it. So, in public, we will say something else, but actually we are with you,” Jaishankar claimed, while taking a dig at the DMK’s claim that they were the champions of Tamils and fishermen.

(With agency inputs)