Mint Explainer: What is the controversy over Katchatheevu Island about?
NEW DELHI : An uninhabited island has sparked a political controversy in the election season. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reignited a longstanding debate in Indian politics by criticizing the Congress party for relinquishing control of the Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka in 1974, under Indira Gandhi's leadership. This move has elicited responses from opposition parties, bringing the island's status back into the spotlight.
Katchatheevu is an uninhabited island situated in the Palk Strait, lying between India and Sri Lanka. Despite its modest size of approximately 285 acres, the island has been a point of dispute between the two nations. Historically, both countries have staked claims to Katchatheevu.
Following extensive negotiations that began in the early 20th century, India and Sri Lanka signed a maritime boundary agreement in 1974, assigning the island to Sri Lankan territory. A subsequent agreement in 1976 addressed additional maritime boundary issues, impacting Katchatheevu. While these agreements aimed to resolve the controversy, the debate over Katchatheevu persisted in Indian politics, focusing on the relinquishment of claimed territory and restrictions imposed on Indian fishermen's rights in the surrounding waters.
The controversy resurfaced last week when Prime Minister Modi accused the Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) of mishandling the Katchatheevu issue. Media reports alleged DMK's M Karunanidhi's acquiescence in transferring the island to Sri Lanka, despite the party's public stand against such a move. Further fuelling the debate, foreign minister S Jaishankar cited prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru's comments from 1961 downplaying Katchatheevu's value and criticized the Indira Gandhi
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