Indian media reports say Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has will not attend the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka next week.
India will be represented by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.
The decision is being reported by IBMLive, The Indian Express, The Hindu and The Times of India.
It would be communicated to Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a personal letter which the Times of India says is being drafted by India’s External Affairs Ministry, commonly referred to as South Block, for Mr. Singh’s review Sunday.
The MEA itself says no decision has been made on Mr. Singh's attendance, but meanwhile has pointed out that in the past 20 years India has been represented at CHOGM by the Premier in only five of 10 summits, by cabinet ministers four times, and by the vice president once.
Indian media says the decision has been influenced by unanimous and intense opposition from Tamil Nadu’s parties to India’s presence at the meet in Sri Lanka.
Interestingly, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters:
"What we have followed [in relation to CHOGM meetings] is an approach akin to horses-for-courses. We focus on what is required in terms of our national interest, foreign policy priorities, and international obligations. Taking those into account we have our delegations led by different people.”
He did not elaborate.
In Chennai, DMK leader M. Karunanidhi was quick to welcome the decision, saying it was “somewhat comforting that at least Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has listened to our voice and decided not to participate in CHOGM.”
He also said Khurshid's decision to participate in the summit was a "debatable" one. See The Indian Express’ report here.
Meanwhile, The Hindu quoted a senior official of India's ruling Congress party as saying that it was not important for the Prime Minister to attend CHOGM, especially if it went against the sentiments of a section of the Indian population — the people of Tamil Nadu, in this case.
Canada’s Prime Stephen Harper had announced several weeks ago he would not attend the summit, citing Sri Lanka’s human rights abuses and authoritarianism.
Earlier this year, Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird launched a blistering attack against the Sri Lankan regime in an interview with the UK newspaper The Guardian, saying:
"We're appalled that Sri Lanka seems poised to host CHOGM and to be chair-in-residence of the Commonwealth for two years
"Canada didn't get involved in the Commonwealth to accommodate evil; we came to combat it. We are deeply disappointed that Sri Lanka appears poised to take on this leadership role."
British Premier David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague this week confirmed they are attending the summit in Sri Lanka, but amid intense media focus have sought to explain their participation in opinion pieces and interviews in the media in the past few days.
See Mr. Cameron's opinion piece in Tamil Guardian here, and our editorial response here.
See Mr. Hague's opinion piece in The Telegraph here, and his interview on Channel 4 News here.