Asia

SRI LANKA Katchatheevu: Modi has reopened the island dispute between India and Sri Lanka

The atoll was ceded by Delhi in 1974, when the Congress Party led by Indira Gandhi was in power in Delhi. Experts believe that the prime minister has raised the issue to gain more support in the southern states ahead of the national elections, scheduled for April 19.

Colombo () – The small uninhabited island of Katchatheevu, located in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka, has unexpectedly become the center of a controversy between the two countries. On March 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the opposition Congress party for handing over the atoll to Sri Lanka, stating that it “did nothing to safeguard the interests of the state.”

The issue has gained importance ahead of the Indian elections, which will begin on April 19 and end in June. Analysts agree that Modi (who is seeking a third term) is using the controversy to seek the favor of the citizens of the southern states, especially Tamil Nadu, which is located across the Strait.

The Congress immediately reacted to the Prime Minister's comment: “Modi, in his desperation, is raising this issue in view of the elections.”

The island was ceded in 1974 by the Indian government, led by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to Sri Lanka, governed by Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike. It was an act of generosity that began an exchange of letters between the two South Asian neighbors regarding the maritime boundary.

After civil war broke out in Sri Lanka in 1983, the island became a battleground between ethnic Tamil Indian fishermen and the Sinhalese national navy. Many Indians lost their lives by accidentally crossing the border line.

Political analysts Nishantha Tennakoon and Sachini Caldera, interviewed by , state that “since time immemorial, Katchatheevu has periodically attracted attention, especially in the run-up to elections in India. Recently Sri Lankan fishermen have begun to fear that “the government cedes the island to India. But the dispute over Katchatheevu is a complex geopolitical issue and cannot be reduced to electoral anxieties.”

According to experts Sampath Mendis and Mayantha Withannage, “the Indian parliament has been debating Katchatheevu for decades, even before the delimitation of maritime borders. The issue was also taken up by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who recorded his disagreement in a record dated May 10, 1961.

Later, in 1974, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the main party in Tamil Nadu, publicly opposed the cession of the island, but the party leader and chief minister of the state gave his approval to the agreement between Gandhi and Bandaranaike. .

Although the Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs S. Jaishankar recalled the events that in 1974 led to the definition of the maritime borders between the two countries, it is evident that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), currently in power in India, wants to position itself against the decision adopted by Congress at the time.

For his part, Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda opened a new debate stating that, in exchange for the transfer of Katchatheevu, India secured a maritime area rich in oil and marine resources.



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