Key Points
Katchatheevu, which has sent sparks flying between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, has after all prompted a response from Sri Lanka as its minister asserted that the island falls within its line of control..
The Sri Lankan minister, Jeevan Thondaman, also said there has been no official communication on Katchatheevu island from the Indian government which shares a healthy and organic" foreign policy with Sri Lanka..
The Sri Lankan minister registering claims on the Katchatheevu island came a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's accusation against the Opposition that the Congress "callously" gave away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974..
Jeevan Thondaman told The Indian Express that Sri Lanka has not received any communication from India" regarding its claim on the Katchatheevu island and if it does, the foreign ministry will reply to it..
Jairam Ramesh brought a 2015 RTI reply which stated that the India-Sri Lanka agreement did not involve either acquiring or ceding of territory and the island lied on the Sri Lankan side of the India-Sri Lanka International Maritime Boundary Line and attacked Jaishankar for disowning" the reply given his own government in 2015..
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