Katchatheevu island

Why in News? Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently said that New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away Katchatheevu,This has angered every Indian,”
The island was ceded by the Indian administration under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to Sri Lanka in 1974 in an act of bilateral largesse. Since the outbreak of the Lankan civil war, in 1983, the island became the crownless battleground for combats between Indian Tamil fishers and a Sinhala-dominated Lankan navy.

What is the history of island?
• Being the product of a 14-century volcanic eruption, Katchatheevu is relatively new in the geological timescale.
• In the early mediaeval period, it was controlled by the Jaffna kingdom of Sri Lanka. In the 17th century, control passed to the Ramnad zamindari based out of Ramanathapuram, about 55 km northwest of Rameswaram.
• It became part of the Madras Presidency during the British Raj. But in 1921, both India and Sri Lanka, at the time British colonies, claimed Katchatheevu in order to determine fishing boundaries. A survey marked Katchatheevu in Sri Lanka, but a British delegation from India challenged this, citing ownership of the island by the Ramnad kingdom.
What is the agreement now?
• In 1974, Indira Gandhi made attempts to settle the maritime border between India and Sri Lanka, once and for all.
• As a part of this settlement, known as the ‘Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime agreement’, Indira Gandhi ‘ceded’ Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka. At the time, she thought the island had little strategic value and that ceasing India’s claim over the island would deepen its ties with its southern neighbour.
• Moreover, as per the agreement, Indian fishermen were still allowed to access Katchatheevu “hitherto”. Unfortunately, the issue of fishing rights was not ironed out by the agreement. Sri Lanka interpreted Indian fishermens’ right to access Katchatheevu to be limited to “rest, drying nets and for visit to the Catholic shrine without visa”.
• Another agreement in 1976, during the period of Emergency in India, barred either country from fishing in the other’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Again, Katchatheevu lay right at the edge of the EEZs of either country, retaining a degree of uncertainty with regards to fishing rights.