AJITH SIRIWARDANA 
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No official word yet, Manmohan may skip CHOGM
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The Prime Minister’s Office late on Friday night denied that a final decision has been made to cancel Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s proposed visit to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo beginning on November 15.
The terse — “no decision yet” — message came right after reports quoting sources said that the PM has decided to skip the CHOGM bowing to pressure from top Tamil Nadu politicians, including his own Cabinet ministers.
Apart from the unanimous Tamil Nadu Assembly resolution urging the PM to skip the meet in view of the strong sentiments in the State over the continued human rights violations against the ethnic Tamil population in Sri Lanka, Congress ministers P Chidamabaram, G K Vasan, Jayanthi Natarajan and V Narayanasamy are opposed to the PM’s visit for the same reason.
In the midst of this controversy, the Congress Core Committee, headed by president Sonia Gandhi, met earlier on Friday as desired by the PM. In spite of the hour-and-a-half-long deliberation, no consensus emerged. Sources said it was pointed out that it would be “difficult” for the PM to go to Colombo given the opposition to his visit in Tamil Nadu cutting across party lines.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi said, “The Prime Minister has a conscience, enough if he acts according to his conscience.”
Indications are that India may not be boycotting the meet entirely, but the Prime Minister may refrain from attending the meet and “send a representative instead”. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has already said he will be attending the Summit.
At the core committee meeting, sources said, Sonia left the final decision entirely on the PM with the curt instruction to all present that “whatever decision the PM takes — to go or not to go — will be endorsed by the Congress party”.
Elaborating Sonia’s stand, it was pointed out that though she upheld the PM’s right to take a final call on a matter on international relations with the advice of Khurshid and the Cabinet, it was not an out-and-out backing of the PM who’s keen to go to Colombo. “It was not that the Congress party told the PM that he can or should go, but left the decision on the PM. If he decides to go, the party will naturally have to back him,” a source said.
The PM, in accordance with the rules of the game, will hold another meeting of the CCPA and the final announcement will be made only thereafter. Given the strong sentiments among the Tamil Nadu ministers — from Vasan (currently in Japan) advocating total boycott to Chidambaram advising scaled down participation and Natarajan wanting the PM to send a representative, there is unlikely to be breakthrough.(The New Indian Express)
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