New Delhi: An island positioned within the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka has emerged as a contentious matter in Indian political discourse. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the difficulty on Monday and criticized the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) for his or her stance, suggesting they’re treating the matter irresponsibly.
“Now, every political party in Tamil Nadu has taken a position on this. Two parties, the Congress and the DMK, have approached this matter as though they have no responsibility for it. As though the situation is for today’s central government to resolve, there is no history to this, this has just happened, they are the people who are taking up the cause; that is the way they would like to project it,” said the External Affairs Minister throughout a press briefing.
The EAM mentioned that over the previous twenty years, Sri Lanka has detained 6184 Indian fishermen and seized, detained, or apprehended 1175 Indian fishing vessels…Over the final 5 years, the issues regarding Katchatheevu and the Fisherman’s difficulty have been persistently introduced up in Parliament by questions, debates, and discussions throughout the consultative committee, he added.
“The then CM of Tamil Nadu has written to me numerous times. And my record shows that to the current CM, I have replied 21 times on this issue…It is an issue which has been very much debated in parliament and in the Tamil Nadu circles. It has been the subject of correspondence between the union government and the state government,” mentioned Jaishankar indicating that this difficulty is just not new. It has been ongoing and actively mentioned each in Parliament and amongst Tamil Nadu circles, he mentioned.
Jaishankar additional slammed the then authorities of not caring a lot concerning the difficulty. He mentioned, ” 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… One, the most basic recurring (aspect) is the indifference shown by the then central government and the PMs about the territory of India…” he added.
Historically, the island located between Rameswaram (India) and Sri Lanka has been utilised by fishermen from each international locations. In 1974, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi acknowledged Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory by the “Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement.” The 1974 Agreement regarding historic waters within the Palk Strait and the Palk Bay between Sri Lanka and India formally affirmed Sri Lanka’s sovereignty over the island.
