Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take immediate steps to review the Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement and retrieve Katchatheevu Island to safeguard the traditional fishing rights of Indian fishermen. In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, Stalin highlighted the growing distress among Tamil Nadu’s fishing community due to frequent arrests and the confiscation of their boats by the Sri Lankan Navy.
CM Stalin Writes To PM Modi
The Chief Minister pointed out that the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly had passed a resolution on April 2, 2025, demanding the retrieval of Katchatheevu and the protection of fishermen’s rights in the Palk Bay. He emphasised that the issue stemmed from the Indo-Sri Lankan Treaty of 1974, which ceded Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka without the consent of the Tamil Nadu government.
Stalin said: “The Government of Tamil Nadu has been steadfast in opposing the Katchatheevu agreement right from the beginning. The Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu had strongly opposed the ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka in Parliament in 1974. After the signing of the Katchatheevu Agreement by the Union Government on 28.06.1974. without the consent of the State Government, the then Chief Minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi immediately convened an all-party meeting at the Secretariat on the very next day on 29.06.1974 and passed a resolution condemning it and wrote a letter to the then Prime Minister on the same day.”
Tamil Nadu’s Legislative Assembly has passed similar resolutions in 1974, 1991, 2013, and 2014, reiterating its demand to reclaim the island.
தமிழ்நாடு மீனவர்களின் பாரம்பரிய மீன்பிடி உரிமைகளை நிரந்தரமாக பாதுகாக்கும் வகையில், இந்திய-இலங்கை ஒப்பந்தத்தை விரைவில் மறு ஆய்வு செய்து கச்சத்தீவை மீட்பதற்கு உடனடியாக நடவடிக்கை எடுக்குமாறும், இலங்கை அரசுடன் பேசி, அந்நாட்டு சிறையில் வாடும் நமது மீனவர்களையும், அவர்களது படகுகளையும்… pic.twitter.com/BonSGBLUTR
— CMOTamilNadu (@CMOTamilnadu) April 3, 2025
Stalin noted that the Sri Lankan Navy’s aggressive actions had left Tamil Nadu’s fishermen in a state of constant fear and economic uncertainty. The past year saw the arrest of 530 Indian fishermen, while 147 have already been apprehended in the first three months of 2025. Fishermen face lengthy prison sentences, steep fines, and the auctioning of their seized boats. The Chief Minister argued that retrieving Katchatheevu was the only way to ensure a permanent solution to these issues.
He reminded Modi that he had raised this concern during their first meeting in June 2021 and had since written multiple letters to the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister urging intervention. Additionally, Stalin urged Modi to negotiate with Sri Lanka during his upcoming official visit to secure the release of all imprisoned fishermen along with their boats on a goodwill basis.
