New Delhi: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu which will vote in the first phase on April 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked the Congress for “callously giving away” Katchatheevu island in the Palk Strait to Sri Lanka in an act he called “anti-national”.
Friendly countries now turning foes
What is eye-opening and startling is how you raised the belligerence levels of even otherwise friendly neighbours like Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives! — Mallikarjun Kharge, Cong Chief
The BJP will intensify the offensive on the issue with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar set to speak on the controversial matter on Monday and top BJP brass — party president JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman — leading the attack against the Congress and accusing it of compromising India's territorial integrity.
“New facts reveal how the Congress callously gave away Katchatheevu. This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people's minds — we can't ever trust Congress!” the PM wrote in a post on X, referring to a media report about revelations in a Right to Information reply received by BJP's Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai. The revelations suggest India gave up its claim on the island in Sri Lanka's favour despite officials at the time arguing in favour of India's strong case.
The PM raked up the issue in his Meerut rally. “Weakening India's unity, integrity and interests has been the Congress' way of working for 75 years and counting… the island was very important from the security point of view,” the PM said.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge called the PM's remarks an “act of desperation”. “You have woken up to the issues of territorial integrity in your 10th year of misrule. Perhaps, elections are the trigger,” Kharge said, quoting a 2015 statement Modi made about the Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh where he said, “This agreement is not just about realignment of land, but a meeting of hearts.”
“This was your statement lauding your own government's realisation of Indira Gandhi's initiative in 1974 (the year when India gave up its claim and Sri Lanka took control of Katchatheevu). Under your government, in a friendly gesture, 111 enclaves from India were transferred to Bangladesh, and 55 enclaves came to India,” countered Kharge even as Nadda said it was “part of Congress' work culture to give up Indian territory at the slightest opportunity”.
The Congress, however, questioned the timing of the BJP's tirade. “On the eve of elections in Tamil Nadu, the PM is raising a sensitive issue,” Kharge said.
The Congress chief asked the government to address “Chinese transgressions”. “PM Modi gave a clean chit to China after 20 bravehearts made the supreme sacrifice in Galwan. What is startling is how you raised the belligerence levels of even otherwise friendly neighbours like Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives! It is the first time in history Pakistan bought weapons from Russia due to your foreign policy failure,” he said.
The BJP later countered Kharge on the Land Boundary Agreement issue saying “this agreement, unlike Jawaharlal Nehru's act of squandering vast swathes to China or giving up our right on Katchatheevu island, was an exchange of land and enclaves, pending since 1947 — something Indira Gandhi also tried to do, but couldn't”.
