India’s request to return Katchatheevu island has ‘no basis’: Sri Lankan Minister
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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 comment by senior Sri Lankan Tamil leader Devananda comes days after the Narendra Modi government targeted the Congress party and its ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu.
Modi had accused both parties of ignoring national interests in handing over Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also been targeting both the parties for not ensuring the rights of fishermen wanting to fish in the waters around Katchatheevu island. It is election time in India, it is not unusual to hear claims and counterclaims about Katchatheevu, Devananda told reporters in Jaffna on Thursday.
Devananda said, “I think India is working to acquire this place in view of 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.” Devananda said that the statements about “taking back” Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka have “no basis.” The Sri Lankan minister said that as per the 1974 agreement, both sides have Fishermen can fish in the territorial waters of both countries but this was later reviewed and amended in 1976.
Accordingly, fishermen from both countries were banned from fishing in neighboring waters. Devananda said, there is a claim 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 ceded to it in the 1976 review agreement. Had secured. 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. So far this year, at least 178 Indian fishermen have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy and 23 of their trawlers have been seized. Devananda is an ex-Tamil militant who now leads the Eelam People’s Democratic Party. Devanand was declared a habitual criminal by a Chennai court in 1994.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, while raising various questions on the Katchatheevu issue, referred to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s recent comments on the matter. He said, I would like to tell you that the Foreign Minister has spoken on the issues that have been raised in press conferences here in Delhi and also in Gujarat. Jaiswal said in New Delhi, I would say that you please watch his press conference. You will find your answers there.
Disclaimer: IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.
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