Tamil Nadu Timeline

DiplomacyRise of Dravidian rule

India and Sri Lanka sign the 1976 maritime agreement

· Katchatheevu

India and Sri Lanka sign the 1976 maritime agreement
AntanO, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

A further agreement on the maritime boundary restricted fishermen of each country from fishing in the other's exclusive economic zone.

Following the 1974 agreement that recognised Sri Lankan sovereignty over Katchatheevu, India and Sri Lanka signed another maritime agreement in 1976. It restricted the fishermen of both countries from fishing in each other's exclusive economic zones. Fishermen from Rameswaram and other parts of the Tamil Nadu coast had traditionally fished in the Palk Bay waters around Katchatheevu. The arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy in the following decades made the agreements a lasting issue in the state's politics.

Related events

  1. 1974

    1. Jun 1974KatchatheevuDiplomacy

      India recognises Sri Lankan sovereignty over Katchatheevu

      Under the Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement, India accepted Katchatheevu island in the Palk Strait as Sri Lankan territory.

    2. 1974New DelhiDiplomacy

      Sirima-Gandhi Pact on stateless persons of Indian origin

      India and Sri Lanka agreed on the future of the 150,000 persons of Indian origin whose status had been left open by the 1964 Sirima-Shastri Pact.

  2. 1976

    1. 31 Jan 1976 to 30 Jun 1977ChennaiPolitics

      Karunanidhi government dismissed; President's rule imposed

      During the Emergency the Union government dismissed the DMK ministry and imposed President's rule in Tamil Nadu.

    2. Feb 1976ChennaiLaw Justice

      Sarkaria Commission of Inquiry into the DMK government

      A one-man commission under Justice R. S. Sarkaria was appointed to inquire into corruption charges against the dismissed DMK government.

  3. 1977

    1. 12 Nov 1977NagapattinamDisaster

      November 1977 cyclone strikes Nagapattinam and the Cauvery delta

      A very severe cyclonic storm made landfall at Nagapattinam, killing about 560 people and affecting around 10 lakh people in Tamil Nadu.

  4. 2011

    1. 12 Jan 2011RameswaramDiplomacy

      India protests Sri Lankan Navy attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen

      India formally protested to Sri Lanka over alleged Sri Lankan Navy attacks on Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait.

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