Tamil Nadu Congress Committee spokesman Dr P V Senthil on Tuesday said India bought Wadge Bank from Sri Lanka in exchange for Katchatheevu amid the ongoing political controversy over the island.
The Congress spokesperson reportedly said Katchatheevu island is just 285 acres while Wadge Bank is 25 lakh acres.
"Our leader Indira Gandhi initiated the exchange pact thinking of the livelihood of the fishermen in Tamil Nadu and Kerala," he was quoted as saying by TOI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP state president K Annamalai had claimed that the Congress government callously gave away the Kachatheevu islet to Sri Lanka in 1970’s, when Indira Gandhi was the country’s Prime Minister.
They had also accused the then chief minister M Karunanidhi of extending his support to it.
"The islet (Katchatheevu) was not callously given away to Sri Lanka as claimed by the PM and BJP," Senthil was quoted as saying.
"This is purely an election stunt. There's no basis in it," he was quoted as saying.
