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Katchatheevu Island: Amidst the political rhetoric in India regarding Katchatheevu Island, Sri Lankan Minister Douglas Devananda, on behalf of Sri Lanka, linked this issue to the general elections in India.

Colombo: Sri Lankan Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda has said that the statements coming from India regarding ‘taking back’ Katchatheevu Island from Sri Lanka have no basis. This statement of Sri Lankan Minister Devananda comes after the comments of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi had targeted the Congress party and its ally DMK in Tamil Nadu. Modi had accused both parties of ignoring national interests in handing over Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974. The BJP has also been targeting both the parties for not ensuring the rights of fishermen fishing in the waters around Katchatheevu island.

‘It’s election time in India’
“It is election time in India, it is not unusual to hear claims and counterclaims about Katchatheevu,” Minister Douglas Devananda told reporters in Jaffna on Thursday. Devananda said, “I think India is working to acquire this place keeping in mind its interests to ensure that Sri Lankan fishermen have no access to that area and Sri Lanka continues to exploit this resource-rich area.” But no one should claim any rights.

The minister told this
Devananda said the statements about “taking back” Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka have “no basis”. The Sri Lankan minister said that as per the 1974 agreement, fishermen from both sides can fish in the territorial waters of both the countries. But it was later reviewed and amended in 1976. Based on the amendment, fishermen from both countries were banned from fishing in neighboring waters. Devananda said, “There is claimed to be a place called the West Bank which lies below Kanyakumari. It is a very large area with extensive marine resources. It is 80 times larger than Katchatheevu, which India recognized in a 1976 review. was secured in the agreement.”

Indian fishermen are arrested
As Fisheries Minister, Devanand has faced pressure from local fishermen in recent months. Local fishermen have staged massive protests to stop illegal fishing in Sri Lankan waters by Indian fishermen. He says that bottom fishing by Indians is against the interests of Sri Lankan fishermen. At least 178 Indian fishermen have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy so far this year and 23 of their trawlers have been seized.

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