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Sri Lanka’s president Anura Kumara Dissanayake made a sudden, unannounced trip to Katchatheevu on Monday, just days after Indian actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay reignited the row over the island by calling for its return to Tamil Nadu.
The president, who had been in Jaffna to launch development projects, travelled by naval speedboat to the islet, catching reporters by surprise. His office released a statement declaring that the government was committed to safeguarding the country’s “seas, islands and landmass” and would not allow “any external force to exert influence in this regard.”
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The controversy follows a fiery speech by Vijay at a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) rally in Madurai last week. “There are 800 of our Tamil Nadu fishermen have been attacked and killed by the Sri Lankan Navy,” he said. “I don’t want you to do anything big to condemn it. Just do one small thing: it is enough to reclaim this uninhabited island from Sri Lanka (Katchatheevu), so that our fishermen can be safe from now on.”
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Vijay’s remarks struck a nerve in Colombo, where officials rushed to insist the island’s sovereignty was not in question.
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath also weighed in, telling reporters in Colombo: “Katchatheevu Island belongs to Sri Lanka. It is an island belonging to Sri Lanka. Therefore, that will never change.”
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The cession of Katchatheevu has been a contentious issue in Tamil Nadu politics. In 1991, the Tamil Nadu Assembly adopted a resolution demanding the retrieval of the island. In 2008, Tamil Nadu filed a petition in court, arguing that Katchatheevu could not be ceded to another country without a constitutional amendment.
The matter gained renewed attention in April 2024 when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the 1974 decision, stating that new revelations about the agreement were "eye opening and startling," and accused the Congress party of "callously" giving away Katchatheevu.
