PM's raising of Katchatheevu issue during poll campaign was 'highly irresponsible': Congress

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the Katchatheevu issue during the Lok Sabha polls campaign, the Congress on Monday said it threatened to derail India’s relationship with Sri Lanka and asked if he and his colleagues would apologise for having created this “huge scare” with a neighbouring country.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also said raking up of the issue was “highly irresponsible” and a “severe distortion of history”.

In the run-up to the polls in Tamil Nadu, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had claimed that former prime ministers of the Congress displayed indifference to the Katchatheevu island and gave away Indian fishermen’s rights despite legal views to the contrary.