Katchatheevu row: Congress gave away fishermen's rights, says Jaishankar

Attacking the DMK over its public posturing against the agreement, Jaishankar said its leader and then chief minister M Karunanidhi was kept fully informed about the agreement, first reached in 1974 between India and Sri Lanka.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday accused the Opposition of giving land away to Sri Lanka during Nehru’s tenure, an claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a day earlier.

During a press conference at the party headquarters, Jaishankar slammed the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam alleging that they ceded the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka which led to the seizure and detention of a significant number of Indian fishermen and their vessels by the neighbouring country.

Jaishankar said in 1974, India and Sri Lanka concluded an agreement over a maritime boundary. “In drawing the maritime boundary, Katchatheevu was put on the Sri Lankan side,” he said, adding that the agreement had three other clauses.

“One said each country will have its sovereignty and exclusive jurisdiction and control over the waters. The second clause gave rights to India fishermen to continue to access Katchatheevu. The third one stated that the vessels of India and Sri Lanka will enjoy in each other’s waters such rights that they have traditionally enjoyed.” He added when the agreement was presented in Parliament, then foreign minister Soren Singh assured the House as “just and equitable”.

Jaishankar said as a result, in the last two decades, 6,184 fishermen and 1,175 Indian fishing vessels have been detained by Sri Lanka. “In the last five years, in the consultative committee of Parliament, we have repeatedly raised the issue by various parties. It has come up in debates and questions. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has written to me numerous times. My record shows that I have responded to the current CM 21 times. This is a live issue and has not suddenly surfaced,” he said.

“The Congress and the DMK have approached this matter as though they have no responsibility for it,” Jaishankar said. The uninhabited island, which spreads across 163 acres, was part of the Madras Presidency but fishermen from both countries fished around it.

Asked if the government plans to reclaim the island, Jaishankar said the issue related to the island is in the Supreme Court. It is a sub-judice matter and nobody should speculate, he added.

In response, Congress leader P Chidambaram took to X and said Jaishankar should refer to an RTI dated January 27, 2015, when Jaishankar was the Foreign Secretary. “The Reply justified the circumstances under which India acknowledged that a small island belonged to Sri Lanka. Why is the Foreign Minister and his ministry doing a somersault now,” his post read.

He added that fishermen are detained by both countries and that every government has negotiated with Sri Lanka to free Indian fishermen. “Were fishermen not detained when Mr Vajpayee was PM and BJP was in power and in alliance with different political parties of TN? Were not fishermen detained by Sri Lanka when Mr Modi was in power since 2014,” he further said.