Katchatheevu Island Row: PM Modi Takes DMK In His Radar, Jaishankar Takes Striking Jibe At Congress

Prime Minister Narendra Modi aimed at the Congress Party for acting irresponsibly as the party under the rule of Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gave away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka. PM questioned the reliability of the party. On Monday, PM Modi took the Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam (DMK) party in his radar and expressed that the new findings in the same case have revealed double standards of the party.

PM Modi shared a statement from the late DMK MP Era Sezhiyan expressing displeasure over the India-Sri Lanka Maritime Agreement signed during the tenure of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The agreement involved India surrendering its claim on Katchatheevu Island, which Sezhiyan referred to as “an unholy agreement.”

“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. Congress and the 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,” the Prime Minister wrote on X.

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Pandit Nehru on Katchatheevu island: I attach no importance to this island…

Foreign Affairs Minister of India, S Jaishankar expressed himself on the Katchatheevu island matter. He presented some of the past references from the time when the island was given away. In the same line of context, he revealed an observation given by the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru in May 1961. Pandit Nehru wrote, “I attach no importance at all to this little island and I would have no hesitation in giving up our claim to it. I do not like matters like this pending indefinitely and being raised again and again in parliament…”

He further chose to present Indira Gandhi’s view of the island, which according to her was a little rock.

The Katchatheevu Island

The island, situated between Rameswaram (India) and Sri Lanka, has historically been utilized by fishermen from both countries. In 1974, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi recognized Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory through the “Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement.” This agreement, along with the 1974 Agreement concerning historic waters between Sri Lanka and India in the Palk Strait and the Palk Bay, officially affirmed Sri Lanka’s sovereignty over the island.