Home India Politics Vaiko opposes PM’s Colombo visit

Vaiko opposes PM’s Colombo visit

By IANS

Chennai : MDMK leader Vaiko Wednesday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to attend Sri Lanka’s 60th anniversary celebrations next month, saying his trip will be seen as India’s tilt towards Colombo in the ethnic conflict.

Vaiko told reporters here that if the visit took place, it would mean that New Delhi supported Colombo’s military offensive against the Tamil Tigers.

Already, the Dravida Kazhagam and the Dalit Panthers of India (DPI) have publicly demanded that Manmohan Singh should not attend the Feb 4 celebrations in Colombo.

Vaiko, who faulted the central government for its alleged military backing to Colombo, alleged that India was getting sucked into the dragging conflict between the Sri Lankan state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Indian officials say that no decision has been taken on the visit. No Indian prime minister has paid a bilateral visit to Sri Lanka after 1987, when Rajiv Gandhi went there and signed a peace accord aimed at ending Tamil separatism.