Retrieval of Katchatheevu topmost on TN Govt's agenda:Minister

Underlining its commitment for the retrieval of Katchatheevu islet from Sri Lanka, the AIADMK government today told the Tamil Nadu Assembly that the issue was "topmost" on its agenda.
"Retrieval of Katchatheevu back to India and restoration of the traditional fishing rights of Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay area are the topmost agenda of the Government of Tamil Nadu," Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said.
He said the state government had impleaded itself in a case filed by his party supremo and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2008 in Supreme Court in her individual capacity seeking retrieval of Katchatheevu.
Jayakumar also pointed out that the state assembly had twice passed resolutions urging the Centre to retrieve the islet, ceded to Sri Lanka in the 1970s.

In her memoranda submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi three times, Jayalalithaa has "reiterated the need for abrogation" of the 1974 and 1976 Indo-Lanka agreements by which the islet was ceded to it, he said.
The government has also pointed to proposed new constructions at the St Antony's Church at Katchatheevu by the Lankan government and also "substantially stepped up" presence of that country's Navy on the islet.

"The apprehension of the Tamil Nadu fishermen is that the Sri Lankan government is moving towards further curtailing and restricting the access that they have traditionally and historically enjoyed to Katchatheevu," he said.

"The Government reiterates its consistent stand that a permanent solution to this vexatious problem (mid-sea arrests and attacks on Indian fishermen by Lankan navy) faced by our fishermen will be possible only by restoring India's sovereignty over Katchatheevu, thereby restoring their rights to fish in their traditional waters," he said.
On the talks between fishermen representatives of the two countries, aimed at solving the fishing dispute, he said the state government was committed to continuing the process.
Three rounds of talks have been held - two in Chennai (January 2014 and March 2015) and one in Colombo in May 2014.