November 9- Poll compulsions and pressure from his ministers from Tamil Nadu as well as political parties from the state seem to be weighing on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s mind. He is now unlikely to visit Colombo for the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting next week.
Sources say the possibility of sending a minister instead is being discussed.
The call for boycotting the summit by Tamil parties as well as Congress ministers from Tamil Nadu is to counter the possible political fallout of Sri Lanka’s alleged war crimes against the Tamils there.
On Friday morning, the Congress core group – which includes the PM, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and senior Cabinet ministers – met to discuss whether Singh should go ahead with the visit.
Besides finance minister P. Chidambaram, Union ministers Jayanthi Natarajan and G. K. Vasan had also opposed the PM’s visit to the island nation. Sources say party leaders have argued that a tough stand on Colombo will help the Congress hunt for a suitable ally in Tamil Nadu for the 2014 polls.
But the Ministry of External Affairs feels if India decides to cancel the trip, it could help China and Pakistan further increase their influence in Sri Lanka. It had even suggested an option – to include Tamil- dominated Jaffna in the PM’s itinerary.
–Indiatoday
