Katchatheevu row | Nehru, Indira indifferent; gave away rights of Indian fishermen: Jaishankar

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress government of ceding Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar claimed that former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi displayed indifference about the island and gave away the rights of Indian fishermen.

Addressing a press conference on Monday (April 1), Jaishankar said Nehru and Gandhi, dubbed Katchatheevu – which was handed over to in 1974 a part of a maritime boundary agreement – as a "little island" and "little rock".

Jaishankar asserted that the issue has not cropped up abruptly but was always a live matter. “It has been frequently raised in Parliament and has been a matter of frequent correspondence between the Centre and the state government,” he said, adding that he has replied to the chief minister at least 21 times.

‘DMK hand in glove with Cong’

Attacking the DMK over its public posturing against the agreement, Jaishankar said its leader and then chief minister M Karunanidhi was kept fully informed about the agreement, first reached in 1974 between India and Sri Lanka.

“The Congress and DMK raised the issue in Parliament as if they bear no responsibility for it, while they are the parties which did it,” he said, adding that the DMK very much "connived" with the Congress in 1974 and afterwards in creating this situation.

The foreign minister said over the past 20 years, 6,184 Indian fishermen have been detained by Sri Lanka and their 1,175 fishing vessels seized.

“It is the Narendra Modi government which has been working to ensure that the Indian fishermen are released,” he said, adding, "We have to find a solution. We have to sit down and work it out with the Sri Lankan government."

He claimed the people of Tamil Nadu have long been misled over the issue and that he was speaking on the matter to inform the masses.

Modi’s swipe at DMK, Congress

Modi on Monday alleged that the DMK, which was in power in Tamil Nadu at that time, did nothing to safeguard the state’s interests.

Taking to X, he said new details emerging on the issue of India handing over the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka "have unmasked the DMK's double standards totally”, citing a news report which claimed that then chief minister M Karunanidhi had given his concurrence to the agreement despite his party the DMK's public posturing against the deal.

The media report is based on an RTI reply received by Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai to his queries on the 1974 agreement between India and Lanka when (Indira) Gandhi was the prime minister.

“Rhetoric aside, DMK has done NOTHING to safeguard Tamil Nadu's interests. New details emerging on Katchatheevu have UNMASKED the DMK's double standards totally. The Congress and DMK are family units. They only care that their own sons and daughters rise. They don't care for anyone else. Their callousness on Katchatheevu has harmed the interests of our poor fishermen and fisherwomen in particular," Modi said.

The prime minister on Sunday (March 31) targeted the Congress over the issue.

He said, "Weakening India's unity, integrity and interests has been the Congress' way of working for 75 years and counting."

Katchatheevu was given to Sri Lanka in 1974 as part of a maritime boundary agreement. The BJP is hopeful that the issue will come in handy in its efforts to gain political traction in the Dravidian territory during the Lok Sabha polls, more so as it involves neighbouring Sri Lanka whose treatment of its own Tamilian citizens and Tamil Nadu fishermen has long been a charged political issue in the state.

(With inputs from agencies)