Katchatheevu issue: ‘If India crosses sea boundary, it will be seen as violation of sovereignty’

A widely respected and experienced official, Fernando was speaking with The Indian Express over the phone from Colombo on Wednesday (Apr 3).

Amid the attempts of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to reignite the decades-old Katchatheevu issue ahead of the general elections, former Sri Lankan envoy to India Austin Fernando said the party may have invoked a “vote-puller” but it would be difficult for the Indian government to step back after the elections, which is a “problem”.

A widely respected and experienced official, Fernando was speaking with The Indian Express over the phone from Colombo on Wednesday (Apr 3). He said if the Indian government crosses the Sri Lankan maritime international boundary line, it would be seen as a “violation of Sri Lankan sovereignty”, as he recalled Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s statements on the Indian Peacekeeping Force in late 1980s.

“If Pakistan proposes such sea encroachment near Goa, will India tolerate it? Or if Bangladesh does something like this in the Bay of Bengal, what will be India’s response?” said Fernando, who was Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India between 2018 and 2020.

“It seems that this is only rhetoric for the election. But once they have said something like this, it is difficult for the government to get out of it after the elections, because BJP will win. It is the problem. They and we both should think about it,” he told The Indian Express.

“To satisfy the voters of Tamil Nadu, [External Affairs] Minister Jaishankar might say: ‘Well, let us have the fishing rights in the Katchatheevu area’. Whether it can be done effectively or not is another issue. Who would control any issues? Do not tell us it is the Indian Coast Guard,” said Fernando, who has also served as Sri Lankan Defence Secretary.

“If the Sri Lankan government gives in, it will reduce a fair share of northern fishermen’s votes to the government,” Fernando said.

“If the Indian government crosses the Sri Lankan maritime international boundary line, then it will be seen as a violation of Sri Lankan sovereignty. Do not forget that that stance was taken by President Premadasa when the IPKF was here,” he said.