External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Monday tore into the opposition Congress and DMK over the Katchatheevu issue, saying that past prime ministers showed "indifference" about the island and gave away the rights of Indian fishermen despite legal views to the contrary.
Speaking at a press conference, Jaishankar said that both Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi dismissed the territory as "little island" and "little rock", allowing Sri Lanka to claim it.
His remarks come after an RTI filed by Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai revealed that India handed over the island to Sri Lanka in 1974 when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister.
Citing Nehru's observation, Jaishankar said that the former PM attached no importance to the territory.
"In an observation given by the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru in May 1961, he 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,'" Jaishakar said.
This stance continued even when Indira Gandhi took over, Jaishankar added.
He also slammed the DMK over its public posturing on the issue, saying that its late former chief minister M Karunanidhi was kept fully informed about the agreement.
"Katchatheevu issue didn’t surface suddenly. It is a live issue and has been often debated in Parliament,” the external affairs minister said.
Jaishankar added that both Congress and DMK raised the issue in Parliament as if they were not responsible for the situation in the first place.
He claimed that the DMK very much "connived" with the Congress in 1974 and afterwards in creating this situation.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned Congress's handling of the issue, citing the RTI reply.
"Eye opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away Katchatheevu," PM Modi said.
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