PM with union minister P Chidambaram (file pic)
The Congress core group met today to discuss the crisis over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Sri Lanka to attend the commonwealth heads of state meeting next week. While the Ministry of External Affairs reportedly wants the PM to visit Colombo, politicians from Tamil Nadu have urged Dr Singh to boycott the meet over Sri Lanka's alleged war crimes against Lankan Tamils.
"PM has a conscience, enough if he acts according to his conscience," DMK chief Karunanidhi said today. His party withdrew support from the Congress-led UPA government in March after the government did not amend a US-sponsored resolution in the United Nations to incorporate the demand for international probe and time-bound action against those who may be found guilty of war crimes in Sri Lanka.
Other politicians from Tamil Nadu, including Dr Singh's own ministers, too have said the PM should skip the November 15 meeting in Colombo to respect the Tamil sentiment. Three other union ministers from Tamil Nadu - P Chidambaram, Jayanthi Natarajan and GK Vasan - are reportedly against the PM's visit. Mr Chidambaram, say sources, favoured sending a government representative instead.
Last month, the Tamil Nadu assembly unanimously adopted a resolution that said India must boycott the session to register its protest against the Sri Lankan government's failure to investigate and punish those who allegedly persecuted the island's ethnic Tamils in the final phase of the civil war that ended in 2009.
However, the foreign ministry and the PM's office are reportedly keen on Dr Singh attending the meeting of the leaders of the Commonwealth nations, as they believe that India should continue engaging with Sri Lanka to push the Tamil cause. Foreign policy experts have also said the PM should attend the Colombo meet because of China's increasing influence in Sri Lanka.
Earlier this week, sources said that the Ministry of External Affairs has proposed a visit to Tamil-dominated Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka as a compromise formula.
The Prime Minister said recently, "We will consider the sentiments of the Tamil people."