"It is not acceptable to us that he, who is responsible for the killing of lakhs of Tamils, is accorded a special welcome," Karunanidhi said.

The DMK’s fellow constituents of India’s ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition, the VCK, also criticised the plans.

The Sri Lankan government has warned its citizens against all travel to Tamil Nadu after several protests against Sri Lankan citizens were held in the state.

A top government official announced that Sri Lanka will not contest for a seat in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) at the upcoming elections this year.

Sri Lanka lost the vote when it last contested for a seat at the UNHRC in May 2008, a year before the barbaric onslaught of 2009, amidst allegations of human rights taking place in the country.

The government official failed to provide a reason for not contesting.

A week after over 100 asylum seekers, including Tamils from the North-East, drowned off the coast of Indonesia en route to seeking refuge in Australia, the Australian opposition leader, Julie Bishop, called for all aslyum seekers to be sent back to Sri Lanka without coming to Australia.

Bishop said,

"If the Government grants people from Sri Lanka refugee status, the Australian Government is accusing Sri Lanka of persecuting their own citizens,"

"Sri Lanka is already making a significant effort by preventing many boats from leaving their shores, however those who make it through should be the subject to an immediate arrangement to be transferred back to Sri Lanka without coming to Australia,"

"There is an extremely high rejection rate for Sri Lankan asylum seekers with the vast majority proving to be economic migrants."

"But once they are in Australia they can pursue their claims for asylum through our courts regardless of the merit."

External Affairs Minister G L Peiris has rushed to London in the hope of lobbying the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to revise its latest travel advisory, reports Colombo Page.

As the controversy over the training of Sri Lankan security forces personnel in India rages on , it has been revealed that the Sri Lankan president and Commander-in-Chief of the Sri Lankan Army Mahinda Rajapakse is due to visit the country later this month.

More than 1000 officers sent under the instruction of the Economic Development Minister, Basil Rajapaksa have been involved in the intimidation of Tamil and Muslim voters in three districts of the eastern province, Ampaarai, Batticaloa and Trincomalee, reports TamilNet.

The Sri Lankan government has declared September 3rd as a national day of mourning to commemorate the life of the Chief Prelate of the Sri Lanka Ramannya Nikaya, Weweldeniye Medhalankara Thero.

Ramannya Nikaya, who passed away at the age of 103, was a long standing upholder of the Buddhist order and spent most of his life disseminating the Sri Lankan Theravadic monastic tradition.

President Rajapakse and Ayatollah Khamenei (Fars News Agency)

President Mahinda Rajapakse met with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei on Friday, on the sidelines of the 16th Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran.