"DMK Involved In It From Start": S Jaishankar On Katchatheevu Island Row

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday slammed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), saying the party was allegedly involved in the Katchatheevu island issue from the beginning.

At an event in Bikaner, Rajasthan on Wednesday, EAM Jaishankar answered a question on the Katchatheevu island controversy.

He said that the DMK is telling the people of Tamil Nadu that they have nothing to do in this matter and blaming the central government for it.

"...We want to make the public understand what DMK is telling in Tamil Nadu is that they have nothing to do in this matter and blamed the central government," Mr Jaishankar said.

"We are exposing the fact that the DMK was involved in it from the start," he said, adding that the discussions were held behind closed doors the then DMK chief minister agreed to it.

"The talks were happening behind closed doors, an agreement happened and the then DMK chief minister agreed to it...The people should know that there are parties who say something in Parliament and decide something else behind closed doors...," Mr Jaishankar added.

Further, he highlighted that the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru said that nobody lives in Aksai Chin, stressing that the Congress has no attachment to India's land.

"Secondly...Pandit Nehru had said nobody lives in Aksai Chin and nothing grows in Aksai Chin...This is their (Congress) mentality about India's land...They don't have any attachment to India's land," Mr Jaishankar said.

The decades-old territorial and fishing rights dispute around Katchatheevu Island is in the limelight ahead of the general elections with the BJP and the opposition engaged in a war of words over the issue.

The island, located between Rameswaram in India and Sri Lanka, is traditionally used by both Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen.

In 1974, the then central government accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the "Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement."

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress party and DMK over the Katchatheevu island issue. He said that Congress "callously" gave away the island.

He further alleged the ruling party of Tamil Nadu did "nothing" to safeguard the state's interests.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)