Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to meet Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa despite protests in Tamil Nadu

Myanmar: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the sidelines of a summit in Myanmar today, despite protests in Tamil Nadu.

The two leaders will meet as part of the BIMSTEC or Bay Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation summit, three months after the Prime Minister skipped a visit to the island nation for a Commonwealth meet, bowing to pressure from political parties in Tamil Nadu.

The BIMSTEC grouping comprises India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal.

Pro-Tamil outfits say India should take a stronger stand against Sri Lanka's alleged war crimes and human rights violations against ethnic Tamils.

"The Prime Minister will meet the President of Sri Lanka," External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told NDTV. "Last year, I am sure Sri Lanka wasn't very pleased about our position because they seem to feel we owe them a lot more support."

The meeting comes ahead of a crucial UN resolution on Sri Lanka this month.

Lanka had rejected a call by the United Nations for an independent international probe into allegations of war crimes. The country has come under increasing international pressure to probe allegations of massive civilian deaths during its final offensive against the separatist Lankan Tamil Tigers, which ended in May 2009.

The DMK hit out at the prime minister for the Centre's "indifference" on Lankan Tamils.

"At a time when Tamils, Tamil outfits and even India are seeking a resolution for an independent probe into war crimes in Sri Lanka, the PM is holding talks with Rajapaksa ignoring the sentiments of Tamils and Tamil Nadu," DMK Chief M Karunanidhi wrote in the party mouthpiece "Murasoli".

Engaging with Sri Lanka is a risk for the ruling Congress ahead of the national election, due by May, with Tamil sentiment taking a lion's share of the campaign space in Tamil Nadu.