Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 3 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to take "immediate steps to review the Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement at the earliest so that the Katchatheevu Island is retrieved and the traditional fishing rights of our fishermen are permanently protected."
The Chief Minister said that the Tamil Nadu Government has been steadfast in opposing the Katchatheevu agreement, which was signed between the two countries in 1974.
"I am writing this letter to bring to your immediate attention to the Resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on 02.04.2025 regarding the retrieval of Katchatheevu island, to protect the traditional fishing rights of the Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay area. I would like to point out that the origin of the problem is the Indo-Sri Lankan Treaty (Katchatheevu Agreement) made between the two countries in the year 1974," Stalin said in his letter.
"The Government of Tamil Nadu has been steadfast in opposing the Katchatheevu agreement right from the beginning. The Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu had strongly opposed the ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka in Parliament in 1974," he claimed.
The Chief Minister said that after the the signing of the Katchatheevu Agreement by the Union Government on June 28, 1974 "without the consent of the State Government," the then Chief Minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi immediately convened an all-party meeting at the Secretariat on the very next day on 29.06.1974 and "passed a resolution condemning it" and wrote a letter to the then Prime Minister on the same day.
"Subsequently, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed a resolution on 21.08.1974 strongly opposing the decision of Union Government on the issue of Katchatheevu. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has passed similar resolutions on 03.10.1991, 03.05.2013 and 05.12.2014 reiterating the consistent demand of retrieving the Katchatheevu Island to protect the traditional fishing rights of our fishermen," he said.
"The frequent apprehensions of our fishermen and seizure of their boats in large numbers have put the lives of coastal community in a state of permanent anxiety and distress. The livelihood of the fishermen has 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 added.
The Chief Minister pointed out that in the year 2024, 530 Indian fishermen were arrested and in the first three months of the year 2025, 147 fishermen were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy.
"Our fishermen are being sentenced to maximum imprisonment and are being levied hefty fines. Besides this, their boats are confiscated and put to auction. All these aggressive measures of Sri Lanka has pushed our fishermen to the brink of extreme poverty and reaffirms our repeated demand for retrieval of Katchatheevu, which is the only way to find a permanent solution to this problem," the CM said.
He pointed to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly's unanimous resolution urging the Centre to take all steps to retrieve Katchatheevu Island.
"In this regard, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution on 02.04.2025, urging the Union Government to immediately review the Indo- Sri Lankan Agreement and take all steps to retrieve Katchatheevu Island and also to urge the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India to hold talks with the Sri Lankan Government to get all our imprisoned fishermen released along with their boats on a goodwill basis, during the upcoming official visit to Sri Lanka," the Chief Minister said.