Why a Sri Lankan island is sparking an Indian election controversy

Indian Prime Minister Modi claims the former Congress government sneakily gifted Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka. But the truth is more complex, say diplomats and analysts.

New Delhi, India – Fifty years after India and Sri Lanka settled a long-simmering dispute over a tiny island, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accused a former government of the now-in-opposition Congress Party of gifting Indian territory to its southern neighbour.

The allegation by Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the eve of national elections has sparked a heated debate in India over a key diplomatic relationship.

At the centre of the controversy is Katchatheevu Island, for long an emotive issue in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which votes on April 19 in the first phase of India’s seven-stage elections.

Ahead of the Tamil Nadu vote, on March 31, Modi shared a news report on social media with the headline, “RTI reply shows how Indira Gandhi ceded island to Sri Lanka”. Modi asserted that Congress “callously” gave Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka.

The issue originated from a Right to information (RTI) request by Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai, who suggested that in the 1970s, the Congress Party under the leadership of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in consultation with Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), transferred ownership of Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka. The DMK was ruling Tamil Nadu at the time and is also in power there now.

“Eye-opening and startling! New facts reveal how Congress callously gave away #Katchatheevu. This has angered every Indian and reaffirmed in people’s minds—we can’t ever trust Congress! (sic),” Modi posted on X, sharing the report. “Weakening India’s unity,