• PM Modi says island ‘callously’ given away to Sri Lanka 
• Sri Lanka yet to receive official communication from India 
• Northern fishermen say real issue is bottom trawling by Indian fishermen 

With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week claiming that the Katchatheevu island on Sri Lanka’s side of the maritime border had been “callously” given away by India’s Congress Party, foreign policy experts in Sri Lanka are calling it an ‘election gimmick,’ while it is learnt that Sri Lanka has not received any form of official correspondence regarding the matter from India.

On 31 March, PM Modi posted a Times of India article on X about a Right to Information (RTI) reply documenting how Congress Party politician and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had ceded Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka in 1974. 

Amongst other claims, the RTI alleged that Gandhi’s father, former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had dismissed the issue of Katchatheevu, writing: “I would have no hesitation in giving up claims to the island.” The article further claimed that despite the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) apparent opposition to cede Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, then Chief Minister (CM) of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi, also a DMK politician, had known of the decision beforehand and had even concurred with it. 

This comes days after incumbent CM of Tamil Nadu and DMK politician M.K. Stalin claimed that Katchatheevu had been ceded despite the DMK’s strong opposition, while questioning PM Modi on the steps he had taken to retrieve the island. 

A key issue in Tamil Nadu remains the arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities when their bottom trawlers illegally cross the maritime border (demarcated by Katchatheevu) to fish in Sri Lankan waters. With Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) having minimal sway in Tamil Nadu, political issues are up for grabs during India’s election year, Indian media notes. On a previous occasion as well, Modi said that the Congress Party had “betrayed” India by handing over the island to Sri Lanka. 

Despite Modi and India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar making Katchatheevu a talking point over the past few days, The Sunday Morning learns that Sri Lanka is yet to receive any official communication from India regarding the matter. 

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry, speaking to the media, said: “This issue was resolved 50 years ago. There is no need to restart discussions on it and I don’t think it will come to that either.”

Election year for the subcontinent 

Factum Chief International Relations Analyst Uditha Devapriya told The Sunday Morning that Modi’s remarks were “obviously an election gimmick”. 

“PM Modi is obviously taking potshots at the Indian Congress Party,” he said, highlighting that the Sri Lankan narrative firmly maintained that the island was not India’s to give away in the first place. “There was a whole series of expert investigations and assessments done at the time to determine the maritime boundary.” 

Devapriya cautioned that gimmicks had consequences, likening the BJP’s re-opening of the issue to uncorking a genie from a bottle. “They are trying to pander to the constituency, but that constituency is going to come back and ask questions from the BJP after it wins the elections. That is going to lead to some ugly diplomatic spats with Sri Lanka.”

Further, he highlighted that 2024 was an election year for both Sri Lanka and India, but questioned whether the issue of Katchatheevu would be as significant to Sri Lankan voters, noting: “Economic issues, prices of goods, inflation, and the shenanigans that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the United National Party (UNP) are indulging in, for example by bringing in authoritarian laws, loom large over the populace.”

However, he said that India rehashing the issue could affect Sri Lanka’s domestic politics by adding to existing anti-Indian sentiment within the country.

“This goes back to 2022 when India shipped billions of dollars to Sri Lanka. The situation is now becoming complicated, with Sri Lankans thinking that India did all that to gain favours from the Sri Lankan Government. On the one hand, we see Adani entering the renewable energy sector. On the other hand, we saw the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) on an official visit to India’s Amul, which is set to enter Sri Lanka’s dairy industry. 

“All that has led to accusations about ‘takeovers’ by India, not just from the mainstream nationalist parties but also from the leftwing parties. These are tangible things that people associate with an Indian takeover. The SLPP and the UNP also differ on President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s handling of India, so the issue of Katchatheevu is another potential deadlock,” said Devapriya. 

Devapriya criticised both Modi and Jaishankar’s “undiplomatic handling” of the issue and said that Sri Lanka should respond in line with international law. “Ideally, there shouldn’t be a diplomatic tussle.”

A tale of two RTIs

Although Dr. Jaishankar on 1 April claimed that the Congress Party was “indifferent” regarding the island and had given away the rights of Indian fishermen, Shiv Sena (UBT) Leader Priyanka Chaturvedi questioned why an RTI response in 2015 by the External Affairs Ministry, when Dr. Jaishankar had been Foreign Secretary, had said that Katchateevu was neither acquired nor ceded and lay on the Sri Lankan side of the maritime border under the agreements. 

“Maybe @MEAIndia will be able to address these discrepancies in its RTI response in 2015 vis-à-vis 2024,” she posted on X. 

Bottom trawling remains the ‘real issue’

Jaffna Fishermen’s Federation Coordinator Annalingam Annarasa, speaking to The Sunday Morning, said that India was engaging in theatrics about Katchatheevu instead of addressing the real issue, i.e. illegal bottom trawling by Indian fishermen which was severely depleting Sri Lanka’s marine resources and affecting the livelihoods of fishermen from the Northern and Eastern Provinces. 

“Katchatheevu is ours and this was decided in 1974. Perhaps Rameswaram [a municipality in Tamil Nadu] fishermen can say that they also historically came to the island. But it is not just Rameswaram fishermen who try to come and fish illegally in Sri Lankan waters. Fishermen from other places in India also come with their bottom trawlers into our waters, disregarding the 2016 ban on bottom trawling that India agreed to. That is the problem we need a solution to.” 

Illegal bottom trawling remains one of the biggest challenges faced by Sri Lankan fishermen who, with their smaller boats and reluctance to engage in bottom trawling due to its severe environmental harm, are no match for Indian bottom trawlers. 

Navy Spokesperson Capt. Gayan Wickramasuriya told The Sunday Morning that over 500 bottom trawlers made their way across the maritime boundary at least thrice a week. “They come from all sides, so we have a large area to cover from the south of Mannar to the northeast of Point Pedro.” 

A 2016 statement on the Indian External Affairs Ministry website states: “The India-Sri Lanka ministerial-level meeting on fishermen issues held in New Delhi on 5 November 2016 agreed to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) on fisheries as a bilateral institutional mechanism to help find a permanent solution to the fishermen’s issues. 

“The Terms of Reference of the JWG include (i) expediting the transition towards ending the practice of bottom trawling at the earliest, (ii) working out the modalities for the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for handing over of apprehended fishermen, and (iii) ascertaining possibilities for cooperation on patrolling. The JWG is also mandated to discuss the issue of release of detained fishing vessels.”

Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Ministry Secretary Kumari Somarathna said that official meetings with India regarding bottom trawling and illegal fishing had been suspended for the past year or so. “We have requested through the Foreign Ministry for a discussion on illegal fishing as it is causing great harm to our marine resources. We sent the request in February to the Foreign Ministry. Bottom trawling damages our seabed as well,” said Somarathna. 

In a statement last week, the Pathfinder Foundation urged the Sri Lankan authorities to establish a fisheries research station on Katchatheevu. 

“Sri Lankan authorities should know that they have been idling for exactly half a century after Colombo established its sovereignty over Katchatheevu. The island may be a barren piece of real estate in the eyes of Sri Lankan authorities. However, it is a strategically located island that can be put to productive use, considering that its vicinity is famous for fisheries resources. 

“Overfishing and damaging the seabed due to continuous bottom trawling could destroy the area’s marine environment, depleting the fish stock, mussels, sea cucumbers, and other aquatic organisms that need to be protected. Sri Lanka is yet to understand how it lost its centuries-old lucrative pearl fisheries breeding grounds in Mannar, for which the island was known for many centuries.”

The foundation further said: “Indian authorities and opinion-makers should bear in mind that the fly in the ointment affecting cordial India-Sri Lanka relations is not Katchatheevu, an issue that was conclusively resolved half a century ago, but the relentless attacks on the fisheries resources in the northeastern sea by Indian trawlers.”

Uninhabitable yet important 

Katchatheevu, a 285-acre island, is surrounded by Dhanushkodi, the northeastern tip of Jaffna, and the eastern tip of Mannar and was traditionally used by both Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen. 

Although deemed unsuitable for permanent habitation due to its lack of a freshwater source, the island is still home to St. Anthony’s Shrine which was built in the 20th century. This church sees an influx of devotees from both India and Sri Lanka for its annual festival. 

However, Rameswaram fishermen boycotted the festival this year in protest over Sri Lankan authorities arresting Indian fishermen when they crossed the maritime border. 

While the Jaffna Kingdom ruled the island in early mediaeval times, by the 17th century, it was ruled by the Ramnad Kingdom, which was based in today’s India. 

Since 1921, during the British colonial administration of both India and Sri Lanka, rulers from both countries had staked claims to fishing rights in the waters around Katchatheevu. This dispute ended in 1974 when India relinquished any claim over the island and two years later, India and Sri Lanka signed an agreement that prevented people from both countries from fishing in waters belonging to the other.