Katchatheevu is an uninhabited island between mainland India and Sri Lanka.
New Delhi:
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the issue of Kachatiu again and seeking to know whether the island is inhabited.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the Katchatheevu controversy at an election rally in Tamil Nadu this morning, saying the Congress and DMK have been in the dark about the state for years.
#watch | Bhopal: Regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on Kachatiu Island, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said, “Is anyone living on that island? I want to ask…” pic.twitter.com/5XnwSNg2hC
— ANI (@ANI) April 10, 2024
Asked for his response to the prime minister’s comments, Mr Singh said: “I would like to ask if anyone lives on that island.”
Katchatheevu, an uninhabited island between mainland India and Sri Lanka, was thrust back into the spotlight last week after the Bharatiya Janata Party accused the government of Indira Gandhi of losing it to Sri Lanka in 1974 .
In 1976, after the Tamil Nadu government was dissolved during the Emergency, another agreement restricted fishermen from both countries from fishing in each other’s waters.
Prime Minister Modi raised the matter at several rallies across the country and linked it to the arrest of Tamil fishermen and seizure of their boats by the Lankan army.
“When the Congress party was in power at the Centre, they handed over Kachatiu Island to Sri Lanka. However, which cabinet took this decision and who benefited from it remains silent. Several fishermen have been arrested in the past few years, Then they (Congress) showed false sympathy,” Prime Minister Modi said at a rally in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday.
