Fifty years after India and Sri Lanka signed a bilateral agreement demarcating maritime boundaries from the Palk Strait to Adam’s Bridge, the ceding of Katchatheevu islet has become a hot political issue in Tamil Nadu. What electoral impact would it have in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls? Katchatheevu, an uninhabited island, has become a point of debate in the country, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress of callously ceding it to Sri Lanka in 1974. Since then, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and other BJP have been targeting the Congress and the DMK, charging that these two parties, which were in power in 1974, had given up the rights of the fishermen to Sri Lanka. What prompted this attack is certain documents that have been obtained under the RTI Act by the BJP Tamil Nadu President K. Annamalai. These documents reveal that in 1974, before India and Sri Lanka signed the bilateral agreement, the then Foreign Secretary Kewal Singh took the Chief Minister Karunanidhi into confidence on this issue. This is a new revelation, given that during his lifetime, Karunanidhi had maintained that he had never agreed to the cessation of Katchatheevu and he was politically opposed to it. We look at the meeting between the Foreign Secretary and Karunanidhi, the political fallout, and more. Script and Presentation: D Suresh Kumar Videography: S. Shiva Raj Production: Shibu Narayan Thank you for watching our video! You can subscribe to our channel here: https://bit.ly/3c8Adi6 Visit https://www.thehindu.com/ for the latest updates, analysis, opinions, and more. You can also download our apps: Android: https://bit.ly/3nboBEi iOs: https://apple.co/3EDCwt4 The Hindu is committed to keeping you up-to-date with information on the developments in India and the world. We promise to deliver quality journalism that stays away from vested interest and political propaganda. You can support us by subscribing to our digital offerings here: https://bit.ly/3emywiz Follow us: Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_hindu Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_hindu/ #katchatheevu #narendramodi #tamilnadu 00:00 - 00:24 - Intro 00:25 - 04:01 - History of the issue 04:02 - 04:49 - Purpose of Katchatheevu island 04:50 - 06:03 - Katchatheevu in TN politics over the years 06:04 - 07:39 - Electoral impact 07:40 - 08:38 - What matters to the fishermen