EAM Subrahmanyam Jaishankar Holds Presser On Katchatheevu Dispute

BY A STAFF REPORTER: A day after PM Modi highlighted the Katchatheevu dispute, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar addressed a press conference on the matter and underscored the ordeal of Indian fishermen in the region on April 1, Monday. 

S Jaishankar claimed that Sri Lanka has detained 6184 Indian fishermen as well as seized, detained, and apprehended 1175 Indian fishing vessels in the last 20 years. He also shared that the Katchatheevu matter has been raised by various political parties in the parliament during the last five years. Jaishankar also argued that the issue has not surfaced recently but is a live issue that has been recurrently debated and discussed in the parliament. He stated that two parties, the Congress and the DMK, have approached this matter as though they have no responsibility for it. "As though the situation is for today's central government to resolve, there is no history to this, this has just happened, they are the people who are taking up the cause; that is the way they would like to project it" He added. 

#WATCH | Delhi: On the Katchatheevu issue, EAM Jaishankar says, "... In the last 20 years, 6184 Indian fishermen have been detained by Sri Lanka and 1175 Indian fishing vessels have been seized, detained or apprehended by Sri Lanka. This is the background of the issue that we are… pic.twitter.com/VWQUkqMqMG

— ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2024

Furthermore, Dr. S Jaishankar stated, "Today, it is important for the public to know and the people to judge, this issue has been hidden too long from the gaze of the public."

The Katchatheevu is a disputed uninhabited island measuring 285 acres in the Palk strait between India and Sri Lanka. Both countries have kept claiming the island since 1921. However, the issue was highlighted again as PM Modi recalled the island in his rally in Meerut on Sunday and took a dig at the Congress over the ceding of Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka in 1974.