The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has revived the row over Katchatheevu, an uninhabited, barren islet about 14 nautical miles off Rameswaram in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. An agreement between India and Sri Lanka in June 1974 recognised Katchatheevu in the Palk Strait as a part of Sri Lanka.
On March 31, reacting to the reply to a Right to Information query filed by the BJP State president, K. Annamalai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X that “new facts” showed how the Congress “callously gave away” the islet. The next day, he accused the Congress’s ally, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), of having done “nothing” to safeguard the interests of Tamil Nadu. Mr. Annamalai’s contention is that M. Karunanidhi, who was Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in the early 1970s, should have prevented the Centre from signing the agreement with Sri Lanka.
Responding to this, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin asked whether Mr. Modi had raised the issue of the “retrieval of the islet” with the Sri Lankan government even once during his tenure as Prime Minister. He said that the issue was being raked up as part of the BJP’s election strategy.
