{"id":31677,"date":"2025-04-03T02:45:48","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T21:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=31677"},"modified":"2025-04-16T13:53:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T08:23:27","slug":"katchatheevu-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/katchatheevu-islands\/","title":{"rendered":"Katchatheevu Islands"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Katchatheevu Islands Latest News<\/h2>\n<p>The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has once again unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Union government to retrieve Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n<h2>About Katchatheevu Islands<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Location<\/strong>: <strong>Katchatheevu is a 285-acre uninhabited island<\/strong> situated in the <strong>Palk Strait<\/strong> between <strong>India and Sri Lanka<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>It is <strong>33 km northeast of Rameswaram (India)<\/strong> and <strong>62 km southwest of Jaffna (Sri Lanka)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strategic Importance<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Acts as a <strong>maritime boundary marker<\/strong> between India and Sri Lanka.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fisheries-rich zone<\/strong>, crucial for Tamil Nadu\u2019s fishing economy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>St. Anthony\u2019s Church<\/strong> is a place of religious significance for fishermen of both nations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Historical Ownership of Katchatheevu<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>It was <strong>formed due to a volcanic eruption<\/strong> in the <strong>14th century<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Initially ruled by the <strong>Jaffna kingdom (Sri Lanka)<\/strong>, later controlled by the <strong>Ramnad Zamindari under the Nayak dynasty (Madurai)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>British India and Sri Lanka both claimed the island<\/strong> until the <strong>1974 agreement<\/strong> settled sovereignty in Sri Lanka\u2019s favor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>IMBL between India and Sri Lanka<\/strong> was <strong>delineated in 1974<\/strong> under the <strong>Indo-Sri Lankan maritime boundary agreement<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Established based on <strong>UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Maritime boundaries are often defined by the <strong>equidistance principle<\/strong>, ensuring a <strong>medial line equidistant from both nations&#8217; coasts<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>IMBL determines Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), Territorial waters and <\/strong>Other <strong>maritime zones<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>1974 agreement adjusted<\/strong> the <strong>equidistant line<\/strong>, leading to <strong>Katchatheevu falling under Sri Lanka&#8217;s sovereignty<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Other Maritime Disputes\u00a0<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>With Pakistan<\/strong>: <strong>Sir Creek Dispute<\/strong>: A <strong>boundary dispute<\/strong> over the demarcation of a 96 km estuary in Gujarat.<\/li>\n<li><strong>With Bangladesh<\/strong>: <strong>New Moore Island (South Talpatti dispute)<\/strong>: <strong>Permanently settled in Bangladesh\u2019s favour<\/strong> after a <strong>2014 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Katchatheevu Islands FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1.<\/strong> What is Katchatheevu Island?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong> It is a small, uninhabited island in the Palk Strait, historically disputed between India and Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2.<\/strong> When was Katchatheevu given to Sri Lanka?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong> In 1974, under the Indo-Sri Lankan maritime boundary agreement, India recognized Sri Lanka&#8217;s sovereignty over the island.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3.<\/strong> Why is Katchatheevu a concern for Indian fishermen?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong> Indian fishermen often get arrested for crossing into Sri Lankan waters while fishing near Katchatheevu.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4.<\/strong> Can Indians visit Katchatheevu?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong> Yes, Indian pilgrims visit annually for St. Anthony&#8217;s Church festival but cannot fish or reside there.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/tamil-nadu\/tn-assembly-unanimously-adopts-resolution-on-katchatheevu-retrieval-from-sri-lanka\/article69403185.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Katchatheevu is a 285-acre uninhabited island in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka, located 33 km from Rameswaram and 62 km from Jaffna.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":31678,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-31677","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}