Katchatheevu is a 163-acre uninhabited island located between Neduntheevu, Sri Lanka and Rameswaram, India - traditionally used by fishermen of both countries, and presently administered by Sri Lanka. The island used to be a part of the Ramnad Kingdom in Madurai which, during the British rule, became part of the Madras Presidency. Ownership of the island has been controversial as during the British rule, the island was administered by both countries. In 1921, both Sri Lanka and India laid claims to Katchatheevu.
In 1974, then PM, Indira Gandhi ceded Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka under the "Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime agreement". Another agreement of 1976 was on fishing rights.
The Sri Lankan Navy came into the picture during their Civil War to control the smuggling of weapons by LTTE. With depletion of fish and aquatic life in the Indian continental shelf, more fishermen poached into the Sri Lankan sea area. In 2010 the Sri Lankan government issued a notice to Tamil Nadu government saying the Indian court cannot nullify the 1974 agreement.
The island is important to fishermen of Tamil Nadu and has led to some agitations. The legality of the transfer was challenged in the Supreme Court since the recognizing was not ratified by the Indian Parliament (as provided in the agreement) nor was the State Govt consulted. In June 2011 the CM Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa, filed a petition in the Supreme Court that the declaration of the 1974 and 1976 agreements between India and Sri Lanka on ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka were unconstitutional. The matter is still sub-judicial.
However, the Indian government had stated, "No territory belonging to India was ceded nor sovereignty relinquished since the area was in dispute and had never been demarcated" and that the dispute on the status of the island was settled in 1974 by an agreement, and both countries took into account historical evidence and legal aspects.
This island Katchatheevu was "gifted" by Indira Gandhi to Sri Lanka in 1974 and is still a matter of dispute with Indian fishermen getting arrested or even killed. Apart from the issue of fishing rights etc. there is, in my view, also the issue of territorial sea extending about 22 km beyond the land, the sovereign rights to the airspace, over the sea and the seabed below. Distance from India to main Sri Lanka is 55 kms but to Katchatheevu merely 25 kms.
So who has territorial sea rights over the sea between?
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