Raising Katchatheevu issue shows PM Modi's desperation, says Congress' Kharge
Narendra Modi over his charge that Indira Gandhi gave away Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday asked why he did not take steps to get it back during his 10-year rule and alleged that raising the «sensitive» issue ahead of elections shows his «desperation». The opposition leader also questioned why the prime minister gave a «clean chit» to China after 20 bravehearts made supreme sacrifice in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh.
Kharge said that Katchatheevu island was given to Sri Lanka as part of a friendly agreement in 1974 and reminded the Modi government that it too had undertaken a similar «friendly gesture» towards Bangladesh on exchange of border enclaves.
«Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi ji, You have suddenly woken up to the issues of territorial integrity and national security in your 10th year of misrule. Perhaps, elections are the trigger. Your desperation is palpable,» he said in a post on X.
Citing his statement made in 2015, he said the prime minister had said, «The Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh is not just about realignment of land, it is about a meeting of hearts».
«This is your own statement in 2015 lauding your own government's realisation of Smt. Indira Gandhi's initiative in 1974,» Kharge said.
He also alleged, «Under your Government, in a friendly gesture, 111 enclaves from India were transferred to Bangladesh, and 55 enclaves came to India.»
In 1974, the Congress chief said, a similar agreement, based on a friendly gesture, was
