'India will have to go to war with Sri Lanka': How Katchatheevu snowballed into a slugfest

In 2014, during a hearing on petitions filed by parties in Tamil Nadu, the Centre reportedly told the Supreme Court that India will have to go to war against Sri Lanka if it sought to retrieve Katchatheevu Island from the latter.

“Katchatheevu went to Sri Lanka by an agreement in 1974. It was ceded and now acts as a boundary. How can it be taken back today? If you want Katchatheevu back, you will have to go to war to get it back,” the then Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi told the apex court. 

A decade later the row has returned after PM Narendra Modi's post citing a newspaper report on the documents obtained by BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai on the island, went viral. The report seemed to indicate that Congress never attached much importance to this island. 

Here is what has been documented about the island.

Where is Katchatheevu island located?
This 285-acre island is located northeast of Rameswaram, 33 km from India, within Sri Lanka's boundary. The place is well known for the 110-year-old St Anthony's Church, reportedly visited by over 5,000 devotees from Rameswaram every year. 

What is the island’s history?
Made from a 14-century volcanic eruption, it was part of the Madras Presidency. Both India and Sri Lankan claimed the island to be theirs. 
In 1974, an agreement was signed called the ‘Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime agreement’, where Indira Gandhi ‘ceded’ Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka with some access for Indian fishermen. The thought then reportedly was that the island had little strategic value and that ceasing India’s claim would improve ties with the island nation.

What is Tamil Nadu’s position on Katchatheevu?
State says agreement was done without consulting Tamil Nadu assembly. The Katchatheevu retrieval issue had all along been a subject of intense debate between AIADMK and DMK with the unceasing arrest and harassment of Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy. Indian trawlers are reportedly resented as they would not only tend to overfish but also damage Sri Lankan fishing nets and boats. The late AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa once vowed to retrieve the island to end the travails of fishermen and her party had always blamed the DMK for doing nothing to stop it, though it held the reins of power in 1974.

What do the fresh RTI revelations say?
The crux of the fresh RTI "revelations" covers two aspects, according to Annamalai. One was related to official "file notings" that recorded first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru attaching no importance to the island and his inclination to part with the island. The second, which showcased "Karunanidhi's betrayal" was the Union government holding discussions and apprising Karunanidhi about the proposed move to cede the island to Sri Lanka. Rohtagi in an interview to NDTV said 'there was no give and take' for the island, adding that the Congress should explain why the island was handed over. 

Enter Jaishankar...
Jaishankar said prime ministers such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi dubbed Katchatheevu, given to Sri Lanka in 1974 as part of a maritime boundary agreement, as a "little island" and "little rock". He asserted that the issue has not cropped up abruptly but was always a live matter. It has been frequently raised in Parliament and has been a matter of frequent correspondence between the Centre and the state government, Jaishankar said.

What does the Opposition say?
Citing a 2015 RTI reply, which stated that the agreements in 1974 and 1976 did not involve either acquiring or ceding of territory belonging to India, the Opposition asked whether the "change" in Modi government's stance was for "election politics".  "Tit for tat is old. Tweet for Tweet is the new weapon. Will Foreign Minister Jaishankar please refer to the RTI reply dated 27-1-2015...The reply justified the circumstances under which India acknowledged that a small island belonged to Sri Lanka," Congress leader P Chidambaram said. Why is the Foreign Minister and his ministry doing a somersault now, he asked.