Modi: Can’t trust Congress which callously gave away Katchatheevu Island to Lanka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (March 31) cited a media report to assert that new facts reveal that the Congress "callously" gave away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka.

"Eye opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away Katchatheevu. This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people's minds – we can't ever trust Congress," he said on X, sharing a report by a national dailyy.

“Weakening India's unity, integrity and interests has been Congress' way of working for 75 years and counting,” he added.

The report by The Times of India which quotes an RTI reply claims that New Delhi after decades of fight finally gave up around 1.9 sq km of land, 20 km from the Indian shore, to Sri Lanka when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister.

The documents were obtained through RTI by Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai.

Decision affected Indian fishermen: BJP

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed that the decision of the then Congress government at the Centre has led to the capture and imprisonment of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Lankans as they at times wander to the island, which is only 25 km off their state's coast, and are arrested.

“The island was with India till 1975,” he said. “Tamil Nadu fishermen used to go there earlier but the agreement India signed with Lanka under the Indira Gandhi government barred them from doing so,” he added.

Unfortunately, neither the DMK nor the Congress is raising the issue but Modi is due to his commitment to the issues pertaining to the country and its people, he said.

The BJP is hopeful that the issue will come handy to its efforts to gain political traction in the Dravidian territory as it gears up for the Lok Sabha polls, more so as it involves the neighbouring Sri Lanka whose treatment of its Tamilian citizens has long been a charged political issue in the state.

The media report also cites first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's comments on the issue, a source of dispute between India and Lanka, that he would have no hesitation in giving up claims on the island.

It says Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, had staked claims over the area after Independence, and had barred the Indian Navy (then Royal Indian Navy) from conducting military exercises on the island without its permission.

In a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Trivedi asked as to why he is keeping mum on the issue and that he should tell people that not only his party but his family too is responsible for this.