Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may not attend CHOGM summit in Sri Lanka

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unlikely to attend the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government meet in Sri Lanka. The government has been under pressure from within and political parties of Tamil Nadu to skip the international meet. The core group of Congress that met on Friday is believed to have asked the PM not to attend the summit to honour the sentiments of parties in Tamil Nadu, including its own leaders.

In the last few days, Tamil politicians have been lobbying intensely with the government, asking for India’s boycott of the event. In the event of Singh’s absence, the Indian delegation for Chogm will be led by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

Although security experts have advocated New Delhi should not allow ties with Colombo to be hit due to domestic compulsions, Congress has been in a tight spot on the issue as politicians from Tamil Nadu have been resolute in their opposition to Singh’s visit to Sri Lanka, over the plight of Tamilians in the island nation.

Minutes before the core group met to discuss the issue on Friday, Congress’ former ally DMK chief Karunanidhi said, “The prime minister has a conscience, and (it will be) enough if (he) acts according to his conscience. I did not threaten on withdrawing support. It has been a long time since we withdrew our support.” Congress ministers from Tamil Nadu — Jayanthi Natarajan, GK Vasan and V Narayanasamy — had also opposed the PM’s visit.

In its official briefing earlier on Friday, Congress said the call was for the PM to take. “A decision will be taken keeping in mind interests of Tamils in Lanka, the overwhelming opinion expressed for and against by the parties in Tamil Nadu and strategic and national interests and the view of the newly-elected chief minister of Tamilmajority province,” party spokesman Randip Singh Surjewala said.

“The Congress has to choose between demands of a long-term ally and the security and foreign policy implications of any action,” G Parthasarathy, foreign policy expert said. Former deputy NSA Satish Chandra said: “If the PM had to boycott, India should have started the process long back and also mobilised other members of Commonwealth and convinced them not to attend Chogm on grounds of human rights violations.” he said.