What about incursions by China, Congress asks PM after his attack on Katchatheevu issue

Congress responds to PM Modi's attack on Katchatheevu issue, questions his leadership on Chinese incursions and neighbor relations.

Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attack on the Congress on the Katchatheevu issue, the Congress on March 31 hit back at the government, questioning Mr. Modi on “incursions” by the Chinese in the last few years, and the increased “belligerence” of “otherwise friendly neighbours like Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives” under his leadership. 

Sunday morning saw the Prime Minister attack the Congress over its commitment to national integrity by sharing on X a news report published in the Times of India, which revealed details obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) query on the circumstances under which then Indira Gandhi government ceded the island to Sri Lanka in 1974. The RTI query was filed by Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Coimbatore.

As scores of BJP leaders and supporters further amplified the news report shared by Mr. Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge posted a statement on X, saying that while India and the Congress had a history of leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel sacrificing their lives for the integrity of the nation, “You, PM Modi, gave a CLEAN CHIT to China, after 20 bravehearts made the supreme sacrifice in Galwan Valley.”

“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 added.

The party’s general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, also posted on X that the “real threat” to India’s integrity had been coming from China in the form of encroachments into Indian territory over the last few years.

Mr. Kharge also clarified that the Katchatheevu island had been ceded in a 1974 agreement based on a “friendly gesture”, similar to the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) executed between India and Bangladesh during Mr. Modi’s first term as Prime Minister.

“On the eve of elections in Tamil Nadu, you are raising this sensitive issue, but your own Govt’s Attorney General, Shri Mukul Rohtagi, in 2014 told the following to the Supreme Court, ‘Katchatheevu went to Sri Lanka by an agreement in 1974… How can it be taken back today? If you want Katchatheevu back, you will have to go to war to get it back.’ Pradhan Mantri ji, you should tell, did your Govt take ANY steps to resolve this issue and take back Katchatheevu?” he asked on X.