Katchatheevu Issue

Why is in news? Katchatheevu and Wadge Bank: the story of two India-Sri Lanka agreements from a half century ago

Weeks before voting for the Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu, the BJP has reignited the decades-old Katchatheevu issue, accusing the Indira Gandhi government of “callously giving away”, as the Prime Minister said in a post on social media, the island to Sri Lanka.

About:

Katchatheevu is an uninhabited off-shore island in the Palk Strait.

The island is located between Neduntheevu, Sri Lanka and Rameswaram, India.

It was formed due to volcanic eruptions in the 14th century.

The 285-acre land was jointly administered by India and Sri Lanka during British rule.

The Raja of Ramnad (present-day Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu) owned Katchatheevu island and later became part of the Madras Presidency.

In 1921, both Sri Lanka and India claimed this piece of land for fishing and the dispute remained unsettled.

After Indian independence, the country initiated to resolve the pre-independence territory dispute between Ceylon and the British.

Today, the uninhabited island is administered by Sri Lanka.