How Lankans react to India’s Katchatheevu debate

The issue of Katchatheevu being settled between India and Sri Lanka has been revived as the BJP heads to Tamil Nadu to canvass for the Lok Sabha polls. This is a bilateral issue exacerbated by domestic elections.

But how have Lankans reacted to the debate in India?

After days of studied silence, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister on Wednesday reacted to the diplomatic row over Kachatiu Island.

Sri Lankan Minister Ali Sabri said that the issue of Kachativu Island has been resolved and “there is no dispute”.

“There is no dispute. They are having an internal political debate about who is responsible. Beyond that, no one is talking about sovereignty over Kachatiu,” Sabri said while attending an iftar party in Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabri said that this issue was discussed 50 years ago and there is no need to re-discuss it.

However, a Sri Lankan government spokesman said that the Sri Lankan Cabinet has not discussed the issue of Kachatiu so far.

“The issue was not discussed in the Cabinet because it was never raised,” Cabinet spokesman and Information Minister Bandura Gunawardena told the media on Wednesday.

Although the Kachatiu incident prompted a strong reaction from the Sri Lankan press and social media, the foreign minister’s remarks were Sri Lanka’s first official reaction.

Sri Lankan media critical of Kachati U trip

Katchatheevu’s comments sparked a heated debate between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress alliance, with the Sri Lankan media being critical of the issue.

“Kachatiu is not something India can give up,” read the headline“Daily Financial Times” The editorial said these remarks were intended to incite South Indian nationalism and “distort facts.”

“Dangerous and unnecessary provocations against friendly neighbors could have serious consequences,” the editorial stated.

Headquartered in Colombo daily mirror An editorial on Tuesday targeted India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

“Sadly, even India’s seemingly unflappable External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has dropped all pretense of statesmanship and joined forces with his Prime Minister [PM Modi] Stir up community sentiments and hope to get some votes in Tamil Nadu,” notedDaily Mirror.

The article added: “Lanka wants to be independent of India’s internal politics and do its own thing.”

Ali Sabri, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka shared ‘foreign policy’ The article title is ‘Sri Lanka honing its balancing act’, and quoted excerpts from it in his introduction to X.

“…South Asia has become a battleground for geopolitical competition, which has put pressure on non-aligned governments in the region to choose sides. But so far, Sri Lanka has managed the situation successfully.” Sabri cited Wilson These are the words of Michael Kugelman, Director of the Center’s South Asia Institute.

Sri Lankan Tamil minister on Kachatiu street

Sri Lankan Minister Jeevan Thondaman, who is Tamil, said that Kachatiu Island falls under Sri Lanka’s jurisdiction and claimed that they had not received any information from the Indian government on the matter.

“As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, Kachathivu Island falls within the Line of Control of Sri Lanka. Narendra Modi’s foreign policy towards Sri Lanka is organic and healthy. As of now, India has not made any arrangements to return the powers of Kachathivu Island Send a formal communication. No such request has been made by India so far. If there is such a communication, the Ministry of External Affairs will respond,” said Jeevan Thondaman, water supply minister in Ranil Wickremesinghe’s cabinet. indian express on Monday.

Kachatiu rowing

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai blame Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) alliance for handover in Kachattiu There is a “naked double standard” on the Sri Lankan issue.

PM Modi claimed that the government under their leadership In the 1970s, “Katchatheevu Island was ruthlessly handed over to Sri Lanka.”

Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar claimed that the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru did not attach importance to the island and believed that this issue would lead to unnecessary disputes with friendly Sri Lanka.

He claimed that the “abandonment of Kachatiu” led to the arrest and confiscation of boats of Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu by Sri Lankan security forces.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin responded to the BJP’s accusations, Hits back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asks central government if any steps have been taken The island was recaptured from Sri Lanka in the past decade.

“What did the Supreme Council say to Katchatheevu when the BJP came to power? They said if we want to take back the island, we have to fight Sri Lanka,” Stalin said on Wednesday.