India’s top diplomat cites Emergency-era deal for Sri Lankan arrests, but critics accuse him of dodging responsibility over Katchatheevu island debacle
(Lanka-e-News -28.June.2025, 8.45 AM) India’s Foreign Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, has once again stirred a political tempest—this time not by defending India’s controversial stance on Ukraine or lecturing the West on energy hypocrisy, but by attempting to deflect accountability for a string of recent arrests of Indian fishermen by Sri Lanka. His argument? That the roots of the maritime dispute lie in the murky waters of India’s 1975 Emergency.
Speaking at a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, Jaishankar claimed that Indian fishermen’s rights to fish in Sri Lankan waters were "given up" due to an agreement made during the authoritarian rule of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
“We hear about our fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka. The reason is that an agreement was entered into during Emergency under which the rights of the fishermen for fishing in some sea waters of Sri Lanka were abandoned,” he told a gathering of the BJP Yuva Morcha in New Delhi. “Had a genuine Parliament functioned at the time, there would have been a debate, and this decision would not have been accepted.”
But the diplomatic blame game has not landed well—either in Tamil Nadu, where frustration over the arrests is boiling, or in Sri Lanka, where officials have dismissed Indian claims over the disputed island of Katchatheevu as “sovereignty-denying political noise.”
At the centre of the geopolitical tug-of-war is the tiny island of Katchatheevu, a 285-acre speck of volcanic rock in the Palk Strait, handed over by India to Sri Lanka in 1974 via the Indo-Lanka Maritime Boundary Agreement. The agreement was ratified without any parliamentary debate—an authoritarian hallmark of the Emergency era.
Since then, the island has become a political football in Tamil Nadu. Fishermen cross maritime boundaries—often unknowingly or in desperation—into Sri Lankan waters, only to be arrested, detained, and sometimes held without trial. Boats are seized, livelihoods are lost, and families in Rameswaram and Nagapattinam are plunged into hardship.
Jaishankar, who promised during election rallies that the Modi government would “reclaim Katchatheevu”, is now being accused of conveniently rewriting the script post-vote.
“He thundered on the campaign trail that he would bring back Katchatheevu to the motherland. Now he wants to pin the blame on Indira Gandhi and flee the scene like a coward,” said a senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity. “If the BJP is so confident, why don’t they start formal diplomatic procedures to reclaim it? Instead, they peddle nostalgia and conspiracy theories about Emergency.”
Even allies are privately fuming. A Tamil Nadu BJP MP expressed frustration: “We were told Delhi had a plan. So far, the only plan is to blame Nehru, Indira, and Rahul Gandhi for everything under the sun. Our fishermen are not interested in history lessons—they want their boats back.”
Across the Palk Strait, the Sri Lankan government has responded with typical diplomatic frostiness. A retired senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Lankaenews : “Katchatheevu belongs to Sri Lanka. That has been legally, bilaterally, and internationally accepted. If India tries to reopen that question, it is a hostile and revisionist act.”
When asked whether Sri Lanka would consider talks with India on fishing rights, the official replied, “We are always open to humanitarian cooperation. But if any country thinks they can intimidate us or reclaim land by stirring domestic political narratives, they will meet resistance down to the last citizen.”
One Sri Lankan navy officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, added more bluntly: “If India wants to escalate, they better be prepared. This is not 1975.”
Critics say Jaishankar’s latest rhetoric fits a broader pattern: masterful deflection, polished defences on international platforms, and a lack of results at home.
“He has turned the Foreign Ministry into a Twitter personality cult,” said Prof. Narayan, a former diplomat and current international relations expert at JNU. “Yes, he can buy cheap oil from Russia. Yes, he can score debate points at Davos. But has he secured the safety of Indian fishermen? Has he made progress on China, Pakistan, or even Sri Lanka? The answer is no.”
She continued: “This obsession with blaming the Congress for everything—including ocean currents and gravity—is unbecoming of a serious diplomat.”
Indeed, Jaishankar’s tone has grown increasingly partisan. In his address, he accused the Congress of being a “family party” and mocked Rahul Gandhi for carrying a copy of the Constitution “in his pocket while having other ideas in his heart.”
The remarks come at a sensitive time. India is trying to maintain strategic relations with Sri Lanka while also checking Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean. Insiders say Colombo has been quietly exploring stronger defence partnerships with Beijing and receiving port infrastructure funding through Chinese state banks. The last thing India needs, say experts, is a diplomatic row over historical grievances.
On the ground, the situation remains dire. At least 21 Indian fishermen have been arrested in June alone, their boats impounded by the Sri Lankan Navy. Families have blocked highways in protest, and state politicians—including Chief Minister M.K. Stalin—have written to the Prime Minister demanding urgent action.
“We don’t care if it was Nehru, Indira, or Napoleon who signed the treaty,” said Rajasekaran, a 56-year-old fisherman from Rameswaram. “All we know is that our sons are in jail, and no one in Delhi is lifting a finger.”
Many are now calling for Jaishankar’s resignation—not just for misleading Tamil Nadu voters, but for dragging Indian foreign policy into what critics describe as “third-rate ideological battles.”
“He can keep lecturing Europe about oil and morality,” said a prominent Tamil journalist. “But in Tamil Nadu, he is now seen as a foreign minister who abandoned his own people at sea.”
As the waves of rhetoric rise higher, the real storm is being weathered by the men who risk their lives in the waters between two nations—while politicians on both shores argue over rocks and old paper.
-By A Special Correspondent
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by (2025-06-28 03:20:40)
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