Tamil Nadu Chief Minister reiterates call not to accept maritime boundary line with Sri Lanka

Mar 11, Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, reiterating her stance on the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) with Sri Lanka said the Indian government should not treat the IMBL as a settled issue as the constitutionality of the 1974 and 1976 agreements that established the IMBL has been challenged by her in the Supreme Court of India.
"I reiterate the government of Tamil Nadu's stand that the government of India should not treat the IMBL with Sri Lanka as a settled question as the constitutionality of 1974 and 1976 agreements have been challenged on extremely valid and legal grounds in the Supreme Court," the Chief Minister wrote in a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
The Chief Minister, who refuses to recognize the IMBL that separates the territorial waters of the two countries, said that Sri Lanka Navy continues to arrest the Tamil Nadu fishermen who were in traditional waters of the Palk Bay and repeatedly infringe upon the right historically enjoyed by them to fish in these waters.
She said the 1974 and 1976 agreements and the Executive Order of 1976 that ceded the Katchatheevu islet to Sri Lanka and set up the IMBL are being challenged in the Supreme Court and the prayer is for the apex court to declare them null and void in the absence of required mandatory constitutional amendment and to restore Katchatheevu to India and restore traditional rights of the fishermen.
Drawing attention of the Prime Minister to the damage that fishing boats and fishing gear suffer due to prolonged disuse while they are impounded by the Sri Lankan authorities, Jayalalithaa urged the PM to take "proactive action" through proper diplomatic channels for the immediate release of 72 fishermen and 78 fishing boats now in Sri Lankan custody.

News by: ColomboPage