External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, weighing in on the Katchatheevu row, on Monday claimed that prime ministers from Congress were indifferent about the island and gave away Indian fishermen's rights despite legal views to the opposite. Jaishankar, while addressing the media, said that former PMs like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi dubbed the island a "little island" and "little rock" and asserted that the issue had not cropped up abruptly but had always been a live matter reported by agencies. 

Katchatheevu Island was given to Sri Lanka in 1974 as a part of a maritime boundary agreement. The issue has recently come to light with the Opposition Congress and DMK trading barbs with the BJP.