Former Union Finance Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday launched a scathing attack on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for his remarks on the Katchatheevu island issue and accused him of 'doing a somersault'. He said that Jaishankar's time from a 'suave liberal Foreign Service officer' to 'a mouthpiece of the RSS-BJP' will be recorded in 'the annals of acrobatic sports.'
Taking to X, he wrote, "The Reply justified the circumstances under which India acknowledged that a small island belonged to Sri Lanka." He further wrote, "Tit for tat is old. Tweet for Tweet is the new weapon."
"Will Foreign Minister Mr. Jaishankar please refer to the RTI reply dated 27-1-2015. I believe that Mr Jaishankar was the Foreign Secretary on 27-1-2015," Chidambaram said.
Jaishankar slams Congress govt for keeping nation in dark over island issue
Earlier, Jaishankar had said that administrations under Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi showed indifference towards the island issue. Jaishankar, who held a press conference at BJP headquarters in New Delhi, quoted the RTI reply and questioned how the Indira Gandhi-led government had "gifted" the island to the neighbouring nation, without taking the country in confidence.
"The island was given away in 1974 and the fishing rights were given away in 1976... One, the most basic recurring (aspect) is the indifference shown by the then central government and the PMs about the territory of India... That fact is they simply did not care..." Jaishankar said in a press conference today.
Further, during the presser, Jaishankar also took a dig at the former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and underscored he did like the pending island issue to be raised repetitively in the Parliament. The foreign minister alleged that for Nehru the island issue was the "sooner you give it away, the better."
ALSO READ | 'They didn't care...': Jaishankar accuses Congress of keeping nation in dark over Katchatheevu island issue
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