PM explains to Lanka Prez why he couldn't attend CHOGM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing regret for not attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet (CHOGM). According to sources, the PM in his letter has said that he respects the value of CHOGM but there are compelling reasons because of which he could not attend the meet.

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Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has also defended the Prime Minister's decision of not attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka. He has said that it won't affect the India-Sri Lanka relations, and such calls have been taken in the past as well taking national interest in mind.

"It will not be right to think that there will be no more opportunity on India-Sri Lanka meet. There have been several occasions when the Prime Minister has not represented nations keeping in view the national interests," said Khurshid.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Saturday expressed relief after the Centre decided that the Prime Minister will not go to Colombo to attend the CHOGM. Karunanidhi, however, said the participation of Khurshid in the event was debatable.

The Tamil Nadu political parties and the Congress leaders from the state had pressuried the PM not to visit Colombo. They have been campaigning that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has violated all human rights during the war with LTTE and the Lankan government should be charged with war crimes. The Tamil Nadu Assembly had also recently adopted a resolution demanding a complete boycott of the event alleging that Sri Lanka had indulged in atrocities against ethnic Tamils.

Union ministers V Narayanasamy, Jayanthi Natarajan and GK Vasan had too publicly opposed the Prime Minister's participation in the summit. The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariawasam had earlier warned India that the nations which don't attend will be isolated. Some veteran diplomats feel that surrendering before the Tamil parties will actually harm India's standing in the Common Wealth.