File photo: India's External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid
British Foreign Secretary William Hague arrived in Colombo today ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) starting on Friday.
Hague's arrival preceded that of British Prime Minister David Cameron who is due tomorrow, British officials said.
They said, Hague would visit the island's south in addition to a series of engagements outside CHOGM.
Cameron is to visit Jaffna in the north, becoming the first head of state to visit the cultural capital of the Tamil minority since Sri Lanka won independence from Britain in 1948.
Sri Lanka, which has downplayed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's decision to skip the summit due to domestic political compulsions in Tamil Nadu, looks forward to Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's presence as proof that India has not entirely boycotted the Colombo meet.