Katchatheevu retrieval won’t resolve fishermen issue: Indian State Minister

Lashing out at the political parties demanding the retrieval of Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka, Indian Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan had asserted that retrieving the islet will not solve the Indian fishermen issue.

According to Deccan Chronicle, the Minister charged that the parties who put forth such a demand were imagining things and that it showed they lacked understanding on the subject.
“There are several issues revolving around Katchatheevu, ceded to Lanka in 1974 by India, The BJP government was never involved in it. In fact, the Jan Sangh had then opposed ceding of India's territory to Lanka,” Mr Radhakrishnan said.

Speaking to reporters he said on Thursday in Chennai, “It is the sheer imagination of certain political parties that retrieving Katchatheevu will resolve the fishermen's problems. They lack knowledge on the subject.”

The issue, he argued, was not confined to the islet alone. One has to look beyond for a meaningful solution to the frequent killing of the Indian fishermen.

“If you think the retrieval will solve the problem. Then you are wrong,” he said and added this particular issue could be discussed when the need and such a situation arose.

Recalling External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's role in ensuring negotiations between Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen and the representatives of the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Nadu, Mr. Radhakrishnan said despite her health condition, Ms Sushma undertook the visit to Colombo in good faith of resolving the crisis. She had to undergo kidney transplant later on. “Nowhere will you find such a minister who is dedicated to the people's cause,” he added.