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Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has pledged not to "yield to external pressure" over Katchatheevu Island, promising to safeguard the country's territory, Srilanka Mirror reported. President Dissanayake's remarks come as he made an unannounced visit to the Island, which India ceded to Sri Lanka in the 1970s.
As reported by the Sri Lanka Mirror, Dissanayake noted that although previous governments acted with the expectation of war, the present government is working to ensure that no form of war will ever recur in the country and to build peace and harmony within the nation. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has repeatedly urged Prime Minister Modi to take all necessary steps to retrieve Katchatheevu and protect the interests of Indian fishermen. The State Assembly has also passed a resolution for the retrieval. In July, Tamil Nadu CM said, "Our government is taking all necessary steps towards retrieval of Katchatheevu. Whenever I meet the Prime Minister, I reiterate the need to retrieve Katchatheevu to bring about a permanent solution to the fishermen's issue. We have, in fact, passed a resolution in the assembly for the same. We are constantly urging the union government to ensure the release of our fishermen who are suffering in Sri Lankan prisons along with their boats," Stalin said. He further lambasted the Union government, which, according to him, is politicising the Katchatheevu matter. "The Union BJP Govt, which doesn't bother about Tamil Nadu and our fishermen, is only politicising the Katchatheevu matter. Treaties with foreign countries usually fall under the ambit of the Union government. What has the BJP government at the centre done in the last 10 years to retrieve Katchatheevu? Have they at least stopped the arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities? No," the Tamil Nadu CM stated. In 1974, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her counterpart, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, signed the Agreement between India and Sri Lanka on the Boundary in Historic Waters between the two Countries and Related Matters of 1974, marking the official demarcation of the maritime boundary from the Palk Strait to Adam's Bridge. The maritime boundary agreement between the two countries extends from the Palk Strait to the Adam's Bridge. It also paved the way for the 1976 pact, which gave away the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka. (ANI)
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