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Katchatheevu Island Row: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to corner the Congress over former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s decision to hand over the Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974, prompting the Congress to issue a sharp rebuke to the BJP. Has been. Government’s failure to stop China’s aggression in Indian territory.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday had a heated exchange over the historical aspects of the Katchatheevu island issue.
Following PM Modi’s remarks on the Katchatheevu island issue, Jaishankar read out comments made by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on the issue to put Congress on the backfoot.
“This is a comment by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in May of 1961. He says, I do not value this little island at all, and I would have no hesitation in giving up my claim to it. I do not like these matters It is pending. Indefinitely and being raised again and again in Parliament. So, for Pandit Nehru, it was a small island. It had no importance. He saw it as a nuisance,” Foreign The minister quoted India’s first PM as saying.
Jaishankar said, “Indira Gandhi also had the same view.”
Former home minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram reacted sharply to S Jaishankar’s remarks, citing a 2015 Right to Information (RTI) reply in which the Narendra Modi-led government had justified the circumstances Under which India had accepted that the small island belonged to Sri Lanka. ,
“Tit for tat is an old thing. Tweet for tweet is the new weapon. Will External Affairs Minister Shri Jaishankar please refer to the RTI reply dated 27-1-2015? I believe Shri Jaishankar will refer to the Finance Minister on 27-1-2015 Were. The North justified the conditions under which India acknowledged that the small island belonged to Sri Lanka. Why are the External Affairs Minister and his ministry doing acrobatics now? How quickly can people change colours? A mild-mannered Foreign Service officer was From the mouthpiece of RSS-BJP to the smart foreign secretary, the life and times of Mr Jaishankar will be recorded in the history of acrobatic sports,” P Chidambaram said in a post on X.
‘PM Modi gave clean chit to China’
P. The senior Congress leader alleged that PM Modi has given a clean chit to China and he should speak on what happened in the last three years.
“Why is the Prime Minister raising an issue which was settled in 1974? In 1974, the Indira Gandhi government had negotiated with Sri Lanka to help millions of Tamils. Katchatheevu island was considered a part of Sri Lanka. In return , 6 lakh Tamils were allowed to come to India. This issue was closed 50 years ago,” P. Chidambaram said.
“2,000 sq km of Indian territory has been occupied by Chinese troops. The PM says that no Chinese troops are present in Indian territory and no part of Indian territory is under the occupation of Chinese troops. You gave a clean chit to China. They should talk about what happened in the last 3 years instead of what happened 50 years ago. China’s occupation is aggression. I would request the Prime Minister to speak about this,” As the controversy escalated, the former Home Minister put the ball in the BJP’s court.
The controversy over Katchatheevu island was raised by BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit president K Annamalai, who dug up RTI documents and alleged that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had ruthlessly given the island to Sri Lanka.
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Published: 01 April 2024, 05:12 PM IST
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