CM writes to PM on Katchatheevu
Chief Minister M K Stalin told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday to take immediate steps to review the Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement of 1974;
Chennai: A day after the State Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on the urgent need to retrieve Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka, Chief Minister M K Stalin told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday to take immediate steps to review the Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement of 1974, under which the island in Palk Strait was acceded, for permanently protecting the traditional fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen.
In his letter to the Prime Minister drawing his immediate attention to the Assembly resolution, Stalin urged him to also hold talks with the Sri Lankan government during his upcoming official visit to get the release of all imprisoned fishermen from Tamil Nadu, along with their boats, on a goodwill basis.
Tracing the ongoing problem in the Palk Bay area – 530 Indian fishermen have been arrested in the first three months of 2025 alone - to the Katchatheevu Agreement (Indo-Sri Lankan Treaty of 1974, he said the sentencing of the fishermen to maximum jail terms, levying of hefty fines and confiscation of boats had pushed the fishermen to the brink of extreme poverty.
Such aggressive measures by Sri Lanka also reaffirmed the repeated demand for the retrieval of Katchatheevu, which was the only way to find a permanent solution to the problem since the frequent apprehensions of fishermen and seizure of boats in large numbers had put the lives of coastal community in a state of permanent anxiety and distress, he said, adding that the livelihood of the fishermen had also become uncertain due to the arrests and seizures.
‘I have personally brought this issue to your notice for immediate intervention, during our first meeting on 17.06.2021 after my assumption of office as Chief Minister and also reiterated our earlier requests for a permanent solution of this issue in our subsequent meetings as well. Since 2021, I have also written many letters to the Honourable Minister for External Affairs and yourself on the arrests and attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.’ Stalin said.
Recalling the State Government steadfastly opposing the Katchatheevu agreement right from the beginning, he said the Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu had strongly opposed the ceding of the island and the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had convened an all-party meeting at the Secretariat, the day after the agreement was signed by the Union Government on June 28, 1974 without the consent of the State Government.
After the all-party meeting passed a resolution condemning the ceding and wrote a letter to the then Prime Minister, the Assembly had passed resolutions on August 21, 1974, October 3, 1991, May 03, 2013, December 5, 2014 and April 2, 2025 reiterating the consistent demand of retrieving Katchatheevu Island, he said.