India and Sri Lanka are separated by a 30 km wide shallow sea called Palk Strait. The nearest points of the two countries are Dhanushkodi in southern Tamil Nadu (India) and Talai Mannar in the Jaffna Peninsula (Sri Lanka).

Apart from the similarities in the physical geography conditions, the two states are different in several aspects, par­ticularly in terms of the society and the economy. Historically, every phase of Peninsular Indian cul­ture had found its way to the island, so that more than one half of the island had remained under the penin­sular influences. The northern and north-eastern parts of the island have sizeable number of Tamil population which has migrated from Tamil Nadu (India).

India-Sri Lanka boundary is a maritime bound­ary. It has generally remained peaceful except some minor clashes between the fishermen over the fish­ing rights. Some bitterness was created over the ownership of Kachchitevu Island (area 1.92 sq. km) in the Palk Strait-nearly 16 km from the Tamil Nadu coast.

Historically the island belonged to the Zamindari of the Ramanathapuram Sanathanam and became part of Tamil Nadu after the abolition of Zamindari. The problem was resolved with the demarcation of India-Sri Lanka maritime boundary along the median line in the Palk Strait and the Kachchitevu Island was given to Sri Lanka by the agreement of 1974. The maritime boundary has become lively with the insurgent activity of L.T.T.E. which is demanding a separate homeland for Sri Lankan Tamils.