"PM Modi should raise this issue firmly": Congress MP Pramod Tiwari backs Stalin's request on Katchatheevu island

New Delhi [India], April 5 (ANI): Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on Saturday said that the issue of Kachchatheevu island has become a concerning issue for Indians and fishermen and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should raise this issue firmly.
"It has become a concerning issue for us, our fishermen and all the Indians. It is a matter related to security. The PM should raise this issue firmly. Even an inch of Indian land belongs to us. I support that it (Kachchatheevu Island) should be under the protection of India...It is ours," Tiwari told ANI.
This came after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday regarding the retrieval of Katchatheevu Island.
The Tamil Nadu assembly passed a resolution on April 2 regarding the retrieval of Katchatheevu island to protect the traditional fishing rights of Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay area.
The letter dated April 3, reads, "I am writing this letter to bring to your immediate attention to the Resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on 02.04.2025 regarding the retrieval of Katchatheevu island, to protect the traditional fishing rights of the Indian fishermen in the Palk Bay area. I would like to point out that the origin of the problem is the Indo-Sri Lankan Treaty (Katchatheevu Agreement) made between the two Countries in the year 1974."
The Chief Minister further stated that the Tamil Nadu government has always opposed the Katchatheevu agreement by the Union government in 1974 and had passed resolutions earlier to condemn this.
The letter reads, "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."
"Subsequently, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed a resolution on 21.08.1974 strongly opposing the decision of the Union Government on the issue of Katchatheevu. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has passed similar resolutions on 03.10.1991, 03.05.2013 and 05.12.2014 reiterating the consistent demand of retrieving the Katchatheevu Island to protect the traditional fishing rights of our fishermen," it added.
Citing numbers, CM Stalin said in the letter, "In the year 2024, 530 Indian fishermen have been arrested, and in the first three months of the year 2025, 147 fishermen were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy. Our fishermen are being sentenced to maximum imprisonment and are being levied hefty fines. Besides this, their boats are confiscated and put to auction. All these aggressive measures of Sri Lanka have pushed our fishermen to the brink of extreme poverty and reaffirms our repeated demand for retrieval of Katchatheevu, which is the only way to find a permanent solution to this problem."
CM Stalin has urged the Centre to immediately review the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement and take steps to retrieve Katchatheevu Island.
The letter reads, "In this regard, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution on 02.04.2025, urging the Union Government to immediately review the IndoSri Lankan Agreement and take all steps to retrieve Katchatheevu Island and also to urge the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India to hold talks with the Sri Lankan Government to get all our imprisoned fishermen released along with their boats on a goodwill basis, during the upcoming official visit to Sri Lanka. A copy of the same is enclosed. I request your good office to take immediate steps to review the Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement as soon as possible so that the Katchatheevu Island is retrieved and the traditional. (ANI)