• ‘Katchatheevu to remain with SL’

Sri Lanka is to become a signatory to the regional action plan of the Bay of Bengal for the prevention, discouragement, and elimination of the illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) catching of fish.

The member countries of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, in 2001, unanimously passed the international action plan for the prevention, discouragement, and elimination of the IUU catching of fish with the objective of restoring depleted fish stocks and ensuring food security. 

As a consequence, Sri Lanka has also prepared a national action plan for that purpose. Further, the member countries of the Inter-Governmental Organisation have collectively agreed to sign the regional action plan regarding actions related to the IUU fishing in the region. This plan is expected to prevent, discourage, and eliminate the IUU catching of fish in the identical economic regions such as Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka, as well as in areas beyond the national jurisdiction in the surrounding Ocean and the seas. 

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers, on Monday (25), approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Fisheries, Water, and Ocean Resources to sign the said regional action plan.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath yesterday (27) issued a stern response to the controversial comments recently made by Indian actor-turned-politician Vijay regarding the Katchatheevu Island. 

“The Katchatheevu Island belongs to Sri Lanka. It is an island belonging to Sri Lanka. Therefore, that will never change,” he said, responding to questions from reporters during the weekly Cabinet press briefing. 

He stated that elections are slated to be held in South India and that candidates will make various statements in the election stage to obtain votes. “This is not the first time. Even in the past, various such statements have been made on the election stage.” However, statements made on those election stages will not change anything, Herath emphasised. “I saw that Vijay had made this statement at an election rally,” he said, adding that not much attention should be paid to that statement. 

The Katchatheevu Island was ceded by the Indian administration under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to Sri Lanka in 1974 in an act of bilateral largesse.