Why is it in the News?

While India 'gave away' rights to Katchatheevu, in a subsequent pact, it secured sovereign rights in Wadge Bank near Kanyakumari.

What is Wadge Bank?

• Wadge Bank is a 10,000 square kilometer submarine plateau, of the sea south of Kanyakumari that is rich in biodiversity and considered India’s richest fishery resource.
• Wadge Bank, located near Cape Comorin, is home to more than 60 species of ornamental fish and other oceanic animals.
• It is a productive coastal area where three seas meet and tides create a rich fishing ground from May to October.
• Moreover, it is an invaluable treasure that indigenous people and communities depend on for food and resources, and is important to their culture.

How did India get control of the Wadge Bank?

• Wadge Bank came to India as part of the second of the two accords signed with Sri Lanka in the 1970s.
• Following the 1974 agreement under which Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ‘gave away’ Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka, New Delhi, and Colombo signed another pact in 1976 under which the former bought Wadge Bank.
  • On March 23, 1976, India and Sri Lanka signed the agreement on the maritime boundary in the Gulf of Mannar and the Bay of Bengal as part of which it was agreed that the Wadge Bank “lies within the exclusive economic zone of India, and India shall have sovereign rights over the area and its resources”.
• In the general description of Wadge Bank annexed with the treaty shared with the United Nations, it is described as “outside the territorial waters of India”.
• The Wadge Bank near Kanyakumari is rich in biodiversity and considered India’s richest fishery resource.
• As per the 1976 pact, Sri Lankan fishermen can’t engage in activities here.
• ??But at the request of Sri Lanka and as a gesture of goodwill, India agreed that Lankan fishing vessels licensed by the Government of India could fish in Wadge Bank for three years from its establishment as an exclusive economic zone of India with the stipulation that only six such vessels can fish and their catch cannot exceed 2,000 tonnes in a year.
• And, again at the request of the Sri Lankan government, India agreed to provide Colombo with 2,000 tonnes of fish of the quality, species, and at the price mutually agreed by the two sides for five years after the Lankans stopped fishing at the Wadge Bank.

Why is it in the News?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again attacked the Congress about its decision to “callously give away” the island of Katchatheevu.

About the Island of Katchatheevu:

• Katchatheevu is an uninhabited area located between India and Sri Lanka in the Palk Strait.
• It measures around 1.6 km in length and slightly over 300 m wide at its broadest point.
• Situated northeast of Rameswaram, it is approximately 33 km away from the Indian coast.
• Moreover, it is positioned about 62 km southwest of Jaffna, at the northern tip of Sri Lanka, and 24 km from the inhabited Delft Island, which is a part of Sri Lanka.
• Katchatheevu is not suited for permanent settlement as there is no source of drinking water on the island.

History of the island:

• Being the product of a 14-century volcanic eruption, Katchatheevu is relatively new in the geological timescale.
• In the early medieval 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.

What is the dispute?

• The island 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 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.
• This dispute was not settled until 1974.

What is the Agreement on Katchatheevu Island?

• 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 neighbor.
• 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 fishermen’s right to access Katchatheevu to be limited to “rest, drying nets and for visit to the Catholic shrine without a 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 about fishing rights.

How did the Sri Lankan Civil War Impact Katchatheevu?

• Between 1983 and 2009, the border dispute remained on the back burner as a bloody civil war raged in Sri Lanka.
• With the Sri Lankan naval forces preoccupied with their task of cutting off supply lines of the LTTE based out of Jaffna, incursions by Indian fishermen well into Sri Lankan waters were commonplace.
• Bigger Indian trawlers were especially resented as they would not only tend to overfish but also damage Sri Lankan fishing nets and boats.
• In 2009, the war with the LTTE ended, and things dramatically changed. Colombo beefed up its maritime defenses and turned its focus to Indian fishermen.
• Facing a depletion of marine resources on the Indian side, they would frequently enter Sri Lankan waters as they had been doing for years, but finally began facing consequences.
• To date, the Sri Lankan navy routinely arrests Indian fishermen and there have been many allegations of custodial torture and death.
• The demand for Katchatheevu is revived each time such an incident happens.

Indian Government Stance on Katchatheevu Island:

• The Union government’s position on Katchatheevu has largely remained unchanged.
• It has argued that since the island had always been under dispute, “no territory belonging to India was ceded nor sovereignty relinquished.”