Chidambaram takes a 'somersault' dig at Jaishankar on Katchatheevu row

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram hit back at foreign minister Jaishankar over the Katchatheevu island row, accusing the BJP leader of doing a "somersault" on the issue.

The former finance minister also said that Jaishankar's journey from being a "suave liberal foreign service officer" to a "mouthpiece of the RSS-BJP" will be "recorded in the annals of acrobatic sports".

Chidambaram told ANI that this agreement was arrived at in 1974 and 1976 after long negotiations. "PM Modi is referring to a recent RTI reply, he should refer to the RTI reply of January 27, 2015, when I believe EAM S Jaishankar was foreign secretary. That reply clearly says that after negotiations, the island lay on the Srilankan side of the international border."

Later on X, the former minister said, "It is true that Fishermen were detained in the last 50 years. Likewise, India has detained many SL fishermen Every government has negotiated with Sri Lanka and freed our fishermen. This has happened when Jaishankar was a foreign service officer and when he was Foreign Secretary and when he is Foreign Minister."

"What has changed for Mr Jaishankar to launch a tirade against the Congress and DMK? Were not Fishermen detained by Sri Lanka when Mr Vajpayee was PM and BJP was in power and in alliance with different political parties of TN? Were not fishermen detained by Sri Lanka when Mr Modi was in power since 2014?

Earlier in the day, Jaishankar claimed that former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi showed an indifferent attitude to the disputed island.