The remarks came after Gandhi’s statement on World Environment Day on Friday. In an over 16-minute video statement on X, he termed the Modi government’s argument that the Great Nicobar Island Project is about defence and a transhipment port a ‘lie,’ alleging that it is actually about benefitting one businessman so that he can build hotels and casinos on India’s most irreplaceable ecological land.”
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BJP national spokesperson Tuhin Sinha said the vision for the Great Nicobar project dates back to the 1970s and accused the Congress of failing to implement such “futuristic” projects despite having conceived them decades ago.
“If the Congress could only imagine such projects but was unable to implement them, that is certainly not our fault.
“Through this project, India’s active land presence in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will effectively move nearly 400 kilometres further south, deeper into the Indian Ocean. The development planned at the southern tip of Great Nicobar Island will be located only about 75 to 80 kilometres from the Strait of Malacca, which handles nearly 30 per cent of global maritime trade today,” he told PTI.
“You can therefore imagine the immense commercial and shipping significance of a port located so close to it. You can also imagine the geostrategic importance of Great Nicobar Island,” he added.Responding to concerns raised by Gandhi over the impact on indigenous communities and the island’s fragile ecosystem, Sinha said only around 10 per cent of Great Nicobar Island’s land area is in use presently.
He said the projected settlement of 3.5 lakh to 4 lakh people over the next two decades will take place in phases while taking ecological and environmental concerns into account.
Sinha asserted that India cannot abandon futuristic infrastructure projects solely because they involve tribal regions.
“If such logic is applied universally, then many major infrastructure projects, including greenfield expressways and connectivity corridors passing through tribal regions, would have to be shelved,” he said.
The BJP leader also cited the project’s clearance granted by the National Green Tribunal, saying the approval reflects due diligence by the relevant authorities.
“If the National Green Tribunal has approved the project, it is obvious that all concerns have been examined carefully,” he said.
Accusing the Congress of “historically” neglecting India’s strategic interests, Sinha alleged that the opposition party is more disturbed by India’s geopolitical expansion than by environmental concerns.
“Some people either do not understand the significance of the project or would rather see other countries emerge more powerful than India,” he said.
