CHOGM: Diplomats say India can't shy away from meet

NEW DELHI: Even as the government prepares to take a final call on the extent of Indian participation at the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting ( CHOGM) in Sri Lanka on November 15-17, all arrangements are in place should Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decide to travel to the summit.

Officials said the Ministry of External Affairs, a strong votary of Singh's visit, has prepared for the visit if the political leadership decides in favour of the prime minister's trip notwithstanding sentiments in Tamil Nadu. As many as two advance teams from India have visited the island nation with regard to ensure that security arrangements are in place, and rooms for the visiting delegation in Colombo hotels have been booked, MEA sources told ET.

"All arrangements are in place. It is now for the prime minister and the political leadership to take the final call to take the flight," one source said. Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid has personally pitched for the prime minister to travel, citing the need for India to engage with Colombo. The Tamil Chief Minister of Sri Lanka's Northern Provincial Council CV Vigneswaran, whom India helped to get elected, will be present at the inauguration of the CHOGM.

Vigneswaran had requested the prime minister to not only visit Colombo but also Tamil heartland of Jaffna. "The Tamil Nadu parties and political leaders are strangely not taking this factor into consideration. The Tamil National Alliance is in power in Northern Province and the prime minister's trip is geared towards the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils.

The Tamil Nadu leaders ironically are ignoring the sentiments of the same Tamils in Lanka whose cause they espouse," one South Block official said. Officials said New Delhi has been pushing the Sri Lankan government for greater devolution of powers for Tamils, and Singh's non-attendance at the summit, which will be seen as a snub, could reduce Indian leverage with Colombo in the future.

"The parties in Tamil Nadu are also being oblivious to the fact that Delhi's intervention helps to get fishermen from the state released when caught by Lankan Navy. Colombo may harden their stand in future on the issue if the prime minister decides to skip CHOGM," another diplomatic source said. The delay in deciding the prime minister's participation has created further difficulties as Singh's bilateral meetings with neither the Sri Lankan leadership nor other leaders from South Asia and other Commonwealth member states could be fixed so far.