Katchatheevu issue settled 50 years ago, says Sri Lanka; no need to revisit

Sri Lanka for the first time reacted to “Katchatheevu” issue that has recently been doing the rounds in Indian politics after Prime Minister Narendra Modi blamed the Congress party to have “callously” handed over the strategically located island to Sri Lanka in 1974.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry on Wednesday said the issue was settled 50 years ago and there was no need to revisit it, reported The Times of India.

“There is no controversy. They are having an internal political debate about who is responsible. Other than that, no one is talking about claiming Katchatheevu,” Sabry was quoted as saying by the media outlet.

Sabry’s comments comes as the first official reaction by Sri Lanka to the recent political row in India.
Meanwhile, Congress has said that PM Modi was spinning a "false narrative" to divert attention from the Chinese provocation.

On Sunday, Modi, citing a media report had tweeted, “Eye opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away #Katchatheevu. This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people’s minds — we can’t ever trust Congress!”

Katchatheevu is a small, uninhabited island that is part of Sri Lanka, a strip of land spanning just about 1.9 sq km (0.7 sq miles) and is located in the Palk Strait, a stretch of ocean which divides India and Sri Lanka.

The island has been claimed by rulers in both India and Sri Lanka since 1921, with British colonies at the time staking claim to fishing rights in the waters around Katchatheevu. 

But in 1974, India ended the dispute by relinquishing any claim over the island; two years later, India and Sri Lanka signed an agreement that prevented people from both countries from fishing in waters belonging to each other, reported the BBC.