Katchatheevu
Native name: கச்சத்தீவு | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 9°23′0″N 79°31′0″E / 9.38333°N 79.51667°E |
| Area | 285 acres (115 ha) |
| Length | 1.6 km (0.99 mi) |
| Width | 300 m (1000 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Province | Northern |
| District | Jaffna |
| DS Division | Delft |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
Katchatheevu (Tamil: கச்சத்தீவு, Tamil pronunciation: [kəttʃət̪t̪iːʋʉ])(Sinhala: කච්චතිවු දූපත, Kachchathiu dupatha) is an uninhabited island in Sri Lanka. The island was governed by British Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1921. Though the Indian government never controlled it, the island remained disputed until 1974 between India and Sri Lanka when India recognised Sri Lanka's sovereignty over the island.
The island is located between Neduntheevu, Sri Lanka and Rameswaram, India and has been traditionally used by both Sri Lankan Tamil and Indian Tamil fishermen. In 1974, then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime agreement aimed at resolving the maritime boundaries in the Palk Strait. Another agreement signed in 1976 restricted both the countries' fishermen from fishing in the other's exclusive economic zones.
Earlier, it had been owned by the Ramnad Kingdom of Ramanathapuram Rameshwaram which later came under the Madras Presidency during British rule of the Indian subcontinent. By 1920, Ceylon had reinstated its claims to Katchatheevu and the island found itself within Ceylonese territory in 1921.