Stepping up his attack against the DMK, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar claimed on Thursday the regional party was very much a party to the then Central government’s negotiations with Sri Lanka on Katchatheevu island and the outcome five decades ago.
As the issue continued to dominate the poll campaign in Tamil Nadu, Jaishankar claimed that agreements could be reached between India and Sri Lanka on the island after the then DMK government was kept in the loop.
“I think what is most important is that the people of Tamil Nadu should know the truth. How did it happen? It happens because when the Central government was negotiating this issue, they were actually consulting the then state government, which was led by the DMK, but that was kept as a secret.
“So, DMK was very much a party to these negotiations, very much a party to this outcome,” the Minister said, responding to a query during an interaction with the media here.
Citing documents that became public via the RTI, he said what they showed was that from 1973 onwards, the then Central government and Foreign ministry held continuous and detailed consultation with the Tamil Nadu government and the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi personally on this matter.