The Sri Lankan navy says it will block any attempt by Indian demonstrators to reach a disputed island by boat and plant the Indian national flag.
Local media reports said Sunday that the Indian opposition and supporters of some Indian groups are planning to reach the Kachchativu island and demand that it be handed over to India.
The Kachchativu island is situated off northern Sri Lanka and is under Sri Lankan control. The island earlier belonged to India but it was handed over to Sri Lanka in 1974.
Political groups and fishermen in southern India have been agitating for several years over the move to cede Kachchativu to Sri Lanka as the sea around the island is known to be a rich fishing locality.
A Sri Lankan newspaper The Sunday Leader quoted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition political party in India, as saying it is making preparations to go by force to Kachchativu.
"We will attempt to go and raise the Indian flag on the island. We have not set a date for that attempt as yet but several other groups in Tamil Nadu are expected to make a similar attempt on Monday," President of southern India's Tamil Nadu BJP headquarters, Ila Gansesan told the newspaper.
However, the Sri Lankan navy warned it will take measures to prevent anyone from entering Sri Lanka's territorial waters illegally.
"We take the responsibility of Sri Lanka's territorial waters. If anyone attempts to cross the maritime boundary we will block them," Sri Lanka's navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya told Xinhua.
In June this year the Tamil Nadu government led by its Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa filed a petition to the Indian Supreme Court seeking the declaration of the 1974 agreement between India and Sri Lanka on ceding Kachchativu to the latter as unconstitutional.
The Indian central government however maintains the island cannot be taken back and the Sri Lankan government has also insisted the disputed island cannot be returned.
Xinhua



But last time they helped a lot to defeat LTTE. They sent thousands of soldiers to Wanni to fight with LTTE.



