Sri Lanka's main opposition party, the UNP, bemoaned the absence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting, calling it a 'big loss'. Speaking to reporters, United National Party (UNP) general secretary Tissa Attanayake said , “This is a big loss, because if our relationship with our neighbour appears to breakdown, no one can say it will be a good thing,” The announcement comes after UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe announced he would be 'boycotting' CHOGM, but would still take part in the inauguration ceremony.
Writing in the Weekend Leader, Karthick RM hailed the decision of Manmohan Singh not to attend CHOGM in Colombo this week as a 'symbolic victory', but stated it was not enough, calling for a 'serious re-think' of Indian foreign policy towards Sri Lanka. Stating that a complete boycott was still needed, he went on to coment that the regional interests of Tamil Nadu were integral to India's foreign policy, adding that Tamil activists from across the globe have "emerged as a well-networked community" and are "constantly expanding their spheres of influence in opinion making".
The sole provider of flights from Colombo to Jaffna, has been instructed by the Sri Lankan government to suspend all flights until the 18 th of November. Hindered by the flight suspensions, Canadian officials who arrived in Colombo this week resorted to travelling by road to reach Jaffna on Tuesday. The announcement comes a several international diplomats and journalists express their interest in visiting the North-East. See here and here .
UK Prime Minister David Cameron is pressing for a formal meeting with Mahinda Rajapaksa, to bring up allegations of war crimes, reports the Guardian . According to Downing Street sources, Rajapaksa has not yet agreed to a private meeting with Cameron. If no bilateral meeting takes place, Cameron's only option to address his concerns with Rajapaksa would be on the fringes of the summit, and leave Foreign Secretary William Hague to follow up in meetings with Sri Lanka's foreign affairs counterpart.
Obhrai lays wreath at Elephant Pass. Photograph Colombo Gazette The Canadian delegate to CHOGM, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Deepak Obhrai was in Jaffna on Tuesday, undertaking a fact finding mission. Meeting with Tamils in the North-East, including the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.W. Wigneswaran, Obhrai visited the premises of the Tamil Jaffna based newspaper, Uthayan, reports Colombo Gazette . He laid a wreath at Elephant Pass in memory of those who were killed during the armed conflict. The Sri Lankan newspaper, Island , wrote, ' a senior government official 'alleged the flowers had been for those who died fighting for the LTTE .'
A few days from now David Cameron will arrive in Colombo to shake hands with a man who presided over the killing of at least 40,000 Tamil civilians and whose government continues to perpetrate shocking cases of rape, torture and mutilation – when the doors open on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka. As he sits down to watch the opening ceremony, the Prime Minister will not be able ignore the absence of two of his most prominent counterparts – the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. Both are boycotting the event.
Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister GL Peiris has told media that the Indian Prime Minister’s no-show at the Commonwealth summit was not a set-back for the event. " It will not affect the success of CHOGM. The Indian Prime Minister was invited. Sri Lankans would have been happier if he came," he said.
Conservative MPs who received all expenses paid trips to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) have been banned from traveling amidst growing concerns over the regime’s lobbying activities in the UK. Investigations by The Daily Telegraph found that many of the MPs that actively uphold Sri Lanka’s rhetoric on reconciliation and human rights progress, had already been on all-expenses paid trips to Sri Lanka.
The Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Baroness Warsi, during parliamentary debates on Friday, outlined her discontent at the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group’s negation of Sri Lanka from its activities. Baroness Warsi asked the government whether it intended to call on the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to formally place Sri Lanka on its agenda.
In its editorial Monday, the Financial Times newspaper urged British Premier David Cameron not to attend the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka later this week. See here (registration required) the full text of the FT's editorial titled 'Cameron should not go to Sri Lanka'. Pointing to Sri Lanka ’s “appalling human rights record”, including both wartime atrocities - “which would be bad enough” – and abuses since, the editorial said: “[Mr. Cameron’s] decision to attend is hard to justify . It seems driven largely by the fact that a boycott would have embarrassed the Commonwealth. This, however, ignores the public relations gift that the presence of a British prime minister – and other leaders – bestows upon a bloodstained regime .