India rules out reopening agreements

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekaran has welcomed the Indian declaration as regards the status of Katchatheevu.

The NPPer appreciated New Delhi’s stand during the debate on the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill recently. The Minister called the dismissal of DMK and AIADMK bid to regain Katchatheevu a historic decision.

The Indian government has told the Supreme Court it will not reopen the agreements under which Katchatheevu was ceded to Sri Lanka, citing its “excellent relationship” with Colombo, as the court told New Delhi and Tamil Nadu to make fishermen aware of the maritime boundary.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva was hearing petitions, pending since 2008, that challenge the “unconstitutional ceding” of Katchatheevu under the 1974 maritime agreement and the 1976 agreement that restricted Indian fishermen’s rights in Sri Lankan waters. Senior Advocate P. Wilson, for the petitioners, argued that because the 1974 agreement transferred territory, it required an amendment to the Indian Constitution.

India’s Attorney General, R. Venkataramani, said the government did not want to reopen the issue and that India had an “excellent relationship” with Sri Lanka it did not want to spoil. He told the court that concerns involving Indian fishermen were being pursued through diplomatic channels, but that India could not compel Sri Lanka to accept its position.

“Fishermen are told not to go into the territorial waters of Sri Lanka, they still venture there,” he said, adding that depleted fish stocks and pollution on the Indian side were driving them across the boundary. “We are polluting our seas. They are not coming here.”

“Either you sensitise the fishermen to not go beyond a particular point,” Justice Kumar said. Tamil Nadu’s counsel argued that the central government should resolve the issue with Sri Lanka. The court did not rule on the validity of the agreements, and the case will be heard again in February 2027.