India will be isolated if it boycotts CHOGM: Sri Lanka

NEW DELHI: With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yet to take a decision on whether to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo next month, Sri Lanka has made it clear that India would be isolated if it does not participate in the summit.

"Human rights violation takes place in every country in the world. We have our share of it and we are making effort to correct them.

"All the governments in the Commonwealth had decided unanimously that the Commonwealth Summit will be held in Sri Lanka, so there is no boycott. Isolation will happen to those who do not participate not the other way round," Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam said here.

He also told CNN-IBN that the "Prime Minister of India is not only leader in this region but leader in Asia, leader in Commonwealth and even in fact the world, so bearing that in mind....it is a decision that India will have to take bearing in mind the national responsibilities and their profile."

Last week, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said the Prime Minister has been invited by the government of Sri Lanka for CHOGM but the government has not taken any decision.

"The decision will be taken closer to the date (of CHOGM) keeping in view the foreign policy, international obligations and national interest," she told reporters when asked whether the Prime Minister will travel to Colombo to attend the meet.

"Foreign policy is an extension of domestic policy. It is meant to protect domestic interests and any decision that will be taken will be keeping in view the domestic interests, foreign policy and international obligations," she added.

Parties in Tamil Nadu are strongly opposed to Singh's participation in the Summit in Colombo, alleging that Sri Lanka has indulged in atrocities against ethnic Tamils.

Scaling up pressure on the Centre, Tamil Nadu Assembly today passed a unanimous resolution demanding that India "completely" boycott the meeting in Sri Lanka and seek temporary suspension of the island nation from Commonwealth.