S Jaishankar As Katchatheevu Row heats up

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar today highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s opposition allegations over the Kachathiu island dispute, saying the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to give the island to Sri Lanka.

In 1974, the then Indira Gandhi government accepted the island, which is about 1.6 kilometers long and more than 300 meters wide, as a region of Sri Lanka under the Indo-Sri Lanka Maritime Agreement. The issue resurfaced after media reports based on an RTI reply received by Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai regarding the 1974 agreement. In 1976, after the Tamil Nadu government was dissolved during the Emergency, another agreement restricted fishermen from both countries from fishing in each other’s waters. The harassment of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Lankan authorities is a key issue in the state and the BJP has raised the issue in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing the media today, Dr. Jaishankar quoted former External Affairs Minister Swaran Singh’s 1974 speech in Parliament. “I believe that the agreement to delineate the maritime boundaries of Park Bay is fair, just and equitable for both countries. At the same time, I would like to remind distinguished members that in concluding this agreement, fishing rights will be considered equitable , just and equal.” The pilgrimage and navigation activities enjoyed by both parties in the past are fully guaranteed in the future. ” he quoted the former minister as saying.

Dr. Jaishankar said that in less than two years, India and Sri Lanka have reached another agreement. India proposed in the agreement that as the two countries establish exclusive economic zones, India and Sri Lanka will exercise sovereign rights over living and non-living resources in their respective regions. India is not allowed to engage in fishing activities in the historical waters, territorial waters and exclusive zones of Sri Lanka. “

“(In) 1974 we made a guarantee. By 1976 we made an agreement to waive that guarantee,” he said.

The result, he said, was that 6,184 Indian fishermen had been detained in the past 20 years. He added that during the same period, Lanka seized 1,175 Indian fishing boats.

He said that in the past five years, various political parties have raised the issue of Kachatiu many times in Parliament. “In fact, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has written to me many times. My records show that I have replied to the current Chief Minister (Stalin) 21 times on this issue. This is not an issue that has arisen out of the blue. This is a real issue,” he said.

He said the Congress and DMK were handling the matter “as if they had no responsibility”. “We believe the public has a right to know how this happened.”

“We know who did it and how it happened. We don’t know who concealed it and what was hidden from the public,” he said.

He said India’s main claim was that Katatiu island belonged to King Ramnad and had belonged to him since the British era. Later, his power was transferred to the Madras government. “India also contends that there is no documentary evidence of original ownership by Sri Lanka,” he said, adding that Sri Lanka’s argument is that they have records dating back to the 17th century.

He said there were issues between India and Sri Lanka over the use of the island after their independence. Dr. Jaishankar said that in 1974, the then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Mrs. Gandhi talked about this during their trip to India.

Dr. Jaishankar said that in 1958, the then Attorney General MC Setalvad, in a legal opinion, said that while the matter was not without difficulties, “the balance favors the conclusion that sovereignty over the island was and is India’s”.

He said key players believed “we had a case” and believed we had to at least insist on fishing rights across the island. “The island was abandoned in 1974 and the fishing rights were abandoned in 1976,” he said.

“There are many aspects to how this happened. One of them is the indifference shown by the then central government and the Prime Minister towards Indian territory. The fact is, they didn’t care at all,” Dr Jaishankar said.

He quoted Prime Minister Nehru’s comments in May 1961: “I do not value this island at all and I will not hesitate to give up our claim to it. I do not like that such a matter should remain pending indefinitely and be Set aside.” was raised again and again in Parliament. “

“So, for Pandit Nehru, it was a small island and he considered it a nuisance. For him, the sooner he gave it up, the better,” the minister said.

This view continued in the days of Indira Gandhi, he said. He said Mrs Gandhi told a Congress meeting that the island was a “little rock”. “This dismissive attitude is historic for Congress towards Katchatheevu.”

The external affairs minister’s press interaction came after Prime Minister Modi accused the Congress of “ruthlessly” handing over the island to Lanka.

“Eye-opening and shocking! The new facts reveal how callously the Congress betrayed Kachatiu. This outrages every Indian and reaffirms in the hearts of the people – we can never trust the Congress, ” he said while sharing the report. Reports said Mrs Gandhi had expressed confidence in then chief minister M Karunanidhi over the island’s decision, but the prime minister said the DMK “did nothing” to safeguard Tamil Nadu’s interests.

Congress MP Manikam Tagore hit back, calling the BJP’s allegations on the issue a “diversionary tactic”. “The problem with the BJP, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Prime Minister Modi is that people in Tamil Nadu are rejecting them and they want a diversionary strategy… The Indian government led by Indira Gandhi was An agreement called the Indira Gandhi-Silimavo Bandaranaike Agreement was signed to save 600,000 Tamils ​​and to save them the island was handed over to the Sri Lankan government. We know very well , if our fishermen are attacked, we will raise our voices and take back Katchatheevu Island. But, 10 years later, Prime Minister Modi has not done so. Through these cheap tactics, they have not even got a single seat in Tamil Nadu. “