India News | Katchatheevu Row: Leaders Must Be Mindful of Neighbours' Sensitivies, Says Congress' Anand Sharma
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma on Monday said India's strategic interests and significance of the relationship with neighbourhood countries must not be lost in the electoral narrative as that has long-term implications.
New Delhi, Apr 1 (PTI) Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma on Monday said India's strategic interests and significance of the relationship with neighbourhood countries must not be lost in the electoral narrative as that has long-term implications.
He said this after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress for "callously" giving away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka, slamming it as yet another "anti-national" act of the party for which the country is still paying the price.
Sharma, who has also held the charge in the external affairs ministry, also termed it as unfortunate that the name of former prime minister Indira Gandhi has been dragged in the controversy over the Katchatheevu island.
"India's leaders must be mindful of the facts of history, sensitivities of the neighbours and the country's national interests.
"It is most unfortunate that India's martyred PM Indira Gandhi's name has been dragged in. The accusation of surrendering territory against Indiraji who ensured the merger of Sikkim and liberation of Bangladesh is unwarranted and unfair," he said.
With the issue having a resonance in Tamil Nadu whose fishermen often bear the brunt of Lankan action against their alleged intrusion into its waters, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit back at Modi, asking why the government did not act to take back the island in its 10 years in power and termed the prime minister's attack as poll-eve desperation.
Modi seized on a media report-based on an RTI reply Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai received on the decision of the then Indira Gandhi government in 1974 to hand over the territory in Palk Strait to the neighbouring country -- to target the Congress, an ally of the state's ruling DMK.
"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 the report.
Modi added, "Weakening India's unity, integrity and interests has been Congress' way of working for 75 years and counting."
He raised the matter later at an election rally in Meerut and linked the issue of the capture of Tamil Nadu fishermen and the seizure of their boats by the Lankan forces to the island treaty.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)