Why Indira Gandhi government was right on the Katchatheevu issue

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought up the Katchatheevu island issue during his recent campaign tour in Tamil Nadu, it left everyone scampering for more information – from political parties to journalists to voters to foreign policy mandarins, among others.

Overnight, Katchatheevu was on everyone’s mind and lips.

Scoring self-goal

No doubt a sensitive issue in Tamil Nadu; had Modi finally managed to hit the nail on the Congress party and the ruling DMK’s head? Or was this one too destined to fall by the wayside? Neither. What the BJP think-tank did not contemplate appears to have happened, which is that the prime minister may have scored a self-goal.

Scouring through all the available material on the Katchatheevu issue, it transpires that the decision by the then Congress’ Indira Gandhi government largely works to India’s benefit.

“Largely” because there are no absolutes in most decisions, as we shall see later.

Ceding to Colombo?

The popular expression is that India “ceded” Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974.

But the fact is the island was not India’s to cede. The tiny Katchatheevu island, located between India and Lanka in the Palk Straits, was historically a disputed territory. And, this dispute dated back to the 1920s when both nations were ruled by the British. Unable to resolve the dispute, both the colonial-ruled nations allowed access to fishermen from either to fish around the island. After all, the two were British colonies, and a resolution did not seem important. There was also nothing within the island except a Christian Roman Catholic shrine of St. Anthony’s.

India-Lanka talks

After Independence (India in 1947 and Sri Lanka – erstwhile Ceylon – in 1948), the dispute resurfaced. After intense negotiations, in 1974, the International Maritime Boundary was drawn between the two nations. India dropped its claim for Katchatheevu, located in the Palk Straits, with the understanding that Indian fishermen would still be allowed to fish in the vicinity of the island.

The talks continued. Two years later, in 1976, the Exclusive Economic Zone of the two nations was drawn up. Indian fishermen were then restricted from accessing the economic zone around Katchatheevu as it was Lanka’s. But here comes the little-known fact that the Indian government had actually bargained for a wadge bank in the Gulf of Mannar closer to Cape Comorin (now called Kanyakumari).

Wadge bank

In recent reports on the issue, the term “wadge bank” has surprised many. In a recent video interview with The Federal, India’s former Consul-General to Sri Lanka, A Natarajan, appears bewildered, saying he has heard of this “bank” only now. Reports of the “wadge bank” make it appear as if it is the proper name of a location.

It turns out that a 'wadge bank' is simply a marine eco-system, meaning a region with a specific bio-diversity and character that qualifies it to be called by that name. There are at least 20 'wadge banks' in the world, including the one close to Kanyakumari.

In 1974-76, the Indian government negotiated with its Sri Lankan counterpart and managed to get this 'wadge bank' into its exclusive economic zone. The Sri Lankans were happy that Katchatheevu was theirs and did not appear to mind India getting control of the area.

Reports point out that this 'wadge bank' has the richest diversity and availability of fish resource in India. More importantly, not known widely at the time, the Indian government was privy to information that underneath the 'wadge bank' was possibly a sizeable quantity of oil. The Indira Gandhi dispensation was aiming to get this quickly before word got out about the oil as that would complicate negotiations. The quick move resulted in the Congress government achieving its objective.

Oil prospects

For the last 50 years, Indian fishermen in the Kanyakumari region have literally feasted on the huge bounty of fish from this area. A few months ago, the Union Petroleum Ministry and Natural Gas invited bids to explore and develop oil and blocks in this area. If India does strike oil, it will fundamentally change the region and, some would argue, benefit the country.

This exercise has understandably angered fishermen in the Kanyakumari area, who are worried that the oil drilling will damage biodiversity and affect their livelihood. That’s an issue that needs to be addressed.

Arrests of fishermen

As for Katchatheevu, Tamil Nadu fishermen routinely get arrested and some even get killed by Sri Lankan security forces when they stray into the neighbouring country’s waters.

Most are released eventually, but the issue is problematic. Prolonging the dispute over Katchateevu would not have helped either as India and Sri Lanka were mutually friendly and a discord would have worked to the advantage of China, which even at that time was angling for an opportunity to enter the region.

Unfair to Indira Gandhi

There have been periodic transient agreements between the two countries on how to deal with the Indian fishermen affected by the Katchateevu deal. Tamil Nadu governments in the past, like the Jayalalithaa dispensation, even went to court trying in vain to get the agreement abrogated. But since the deal was signed by two sovereign governments, and Katchatheevu never belonged solely to India, it is, for all practical purposes, not open for judicial review.

To suggest that the Congress government in 1974-76 gave away India’s rights over Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka like charity is a misrepresentation that unfairly denies credit to Indira Gandhi given that the erstwhile prime minister bolstered India’s security like few others.

Bangladesh, Sikkim as examples

To give two examples, it was the Indira Gandhi government that exploited the civil war in East Pakistan to break India’s rival into two. Under her leadership, India neutralised the existential threat in the East by helping to create a new nation Bangladesh.

Later, in 1975, in a prescient move, the Indira Gandhi government annexed the then independent monarchy-ruled Sikkim into India through a peaceful, even if contentious, referendum.

In today’s geopolitics, if Sikkim had not been annexed, it is highly likely that China with its big power status would have manoeuvred itself to get a foothold there – resulting in a huge security headache for India.

The China factor

Same is the case with the 'wadge bank'. If India had not managed to absorb it into its exclusive economic zone in 1976, China would have attempted to use its relationship with Sri Lanka to possibly start drilling for oil there, if not challenge India’s activity in the area.

In fact, in 2022, a Chinese company attempted to start work – to set up wind farms – in three islets in the Palk Straits. But India objected as it came close to its economic zone. Sri Lanka asked China to back off and awarded the contract to an Indian company.

So, five decades after India signed the maritime agreement with Sri Lanka, to poke holes into it is a sign of poor research and understanding. Let it also be said that to misrepresent the issue is a cavalier move to diss a well-meaning former Congress government, with the sole purpose of wooing voters.