The Sri Lanka-India Memorandum of Understanding for the project was among several signed in March during the visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, as Delhi extended a helping hand to Colombo during the economic crisis with financial assistance worth $2.4 billion.
The Sri Lanka-India Memorandum of Understanding for the project was among several signed in March during the visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, as Delhi extended a helping hand to Colombo during the economic crisis with financial assistance worth $2.4 billion.
All of 50 sq km, Delft, also known by its Tamil name Neduntheevu, is located in the Palk Strait. A choppy one-hour boat ride from a Jaffna jetty called Kurikattuwan, Delft lies just 45 km north-east of Tamil Nadu’s Rameswaram. In between is Katchatheevu, which India ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974.
Sri Lanka’s territorial waters in this entire area are a matter of severe contestation between Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen. “300 to 500 boats. They come at night on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Those are their fishing days, and they come that close,” said 42-year-old Regeeswaran, pointing to a buoy not far from the shore.
His neighbour, J Arokiyadas, complains that when the Sri Lankan naval unit stationed on the island arrests Indian fishermen trespassing in these waters, “they get calls from the big guys in Colombo ordering their release”.