TN factor did influence PM decision on Lanka: govt

Agencies/New DelhiExternal Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid yesterday admitted that emotive protests in Tamil Nadu did influence Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision to skip Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka.But he underlined it would be wrong to “look at any one single dimension to this decision.”“There are a lot of factors... The prime minister is campaigning (for state elections) and of course there are a lot of issues in Tamil Nadu,” Khurshid told NDTV news channel.“Many other important things are on the prime minister’s plate right now. So there could be a lot of reasons that went into this decision,” he said.“I don’t think we should look at any one single dimension to this decision. Let’s not forget that the prime minister doesn’t always go to Commonwealth (meetings).” Singh sent a letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday informing him of his decision not to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which has become mired in controversy over demands for Colombo to address the allegations. The prime minister was “unable to attend personally” the 53-nation summit which Sri Lanka is hosting from November 15-17, external affairs ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said. Political parties in Tamil Nadu, including the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, were bitterly opposed to the prime minister’s visit to Sri Lanka because of what they said were human rights abuses involving Tamil civilians.Asked if domestic politics prevailed over India’s diplomatic and strategic interests, Khurshid said: “We have a very important relationship with Sri Lanka. I don’t think we should see this as a switch-on-switch-off affair.”Several ministers from within the government had urged Singh to skip the event, amid concerns about upsetting Tamil voters - an important constituency - months before India holds national elections. Khurshid will head the Indian delegation. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already announced he would boycott the summit, to protest at Sri Lanka’s failure to investigate its troops over allegations they killed up to 40,000 civilians in 2009. British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will attend the event, but has pledged to push for an international investigation into the allegations of war crimes. India has 62mn Tamils in Tamil Nadu. They share close religious and cultural ties with their Sri Lankan counterparts. The ruling Congress Party is keen not to alienate potential supporters with elections due by May 2014, even at the expense of friction with its southern Sri Lankan neighbour. The Sri Lankan government, which defeated the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, faces increasing pressure from the international community to try those responsible for rights abuses during a nearly three-decade-long civil war. The prime minister, a strong votary of good neighbourly relations, was reportedly keen to go. The external affairs ministry also pushed for his participation at the summit, keeping in mind India’s overall security and strategic interests.The DMK and the AIADMK, along with other Tamil parties, however, demanded that India boycott the summit. Central ministers P Chidambaram, Jayanthi Natarajan and G K Vasan - all from Tamil Nadu - as well as V Narayanasamy - who is from Puduchery -were pressing the prime minister that he keep in mind Tamil interests while deciding, especially with the general elections in the country just months ahead.The Congress Core Group at its Friday meeting too decided against the prime minister going to Sri Lanka.Critics in India slammed Singh’s decision as opening the way for China, which helps fund the island nation’s military and infrastructure projects, to extend its influence. “Now we are vacating our backyard for the Chinese to rebuild all of a booming post-war Sri Lanka,” influential columnist and editor Shekhar Gupta wrote in the Indian Express newspaper. There have been two occasions since 1993 when India sent its external affairs minister to attend the Commonwealth summit.In 1995 in Auckland, New Zealand, Pranab Mukherjee as external affairs minister led the Indian delegation. In 2002 in Coolum, Australia, it was Jaswant Singh as the external affairs minister who went in place of the prime minister.