Katchatheevu row: Sri Lanka says island falls within its control, India trying to reclaim territory, says BJP

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gave away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974. Jeevan Thondaman told The Indian Express that Sri Lanka “has not received any communication from India" regarding its claim on the Katchatheevu island and if it does, the foreign ministry will reply to it. "As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, Katchatheevu island falls within the Sri Lankan line of control….So far, there has not been an official communication from India to return the powers of Katchatheevu island….If there is such a communication, the foreign ministry will reply to that," Jeevan Thondaman was quoted as saying.

Katchatheevu is an uninhabited island that remained disputed until 1974 when Sri Lanka and India recognised it as the former's territory. The row over Katchatheevu island erupted when PM Narendra Modi claimed that the Congress-led government in 1974 “callously" gave away the island by recognising it as Sri Lanka's sovereignty. "Eye opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away #Katchatheevu.

This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people's minds- we can't ever trust Congress! Weakening India's unity, integrity and interests has been Congress' way of working for 75 years and counting," PM Modi said referring to a media report in a post on X. The media report was based on a RTI filed by K Annamalai. S Jaishankar put his weight on the allegations, saying “they simply did not care".

"We are talking about 1958 and 1960... The main people in the case wanted to make sure that at least we should get the fishing rights... The island was given away in 1974 and the fishing rights were given away in 1976...