Decision on PM attending CHOGM will be announced soon, says MEA

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin on Wednesday said that the process for deciding whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in November, has fairly advanced, and added that its outcome would be shared once finalized.

"Last time, I confirmed that a process is underway. I can further confirm that the process is now fairly advanced. All issues related to that are now available for decision-making. And we hope to have an early outcome of that decision and we will communicate to you," he told media here today.

There has been stiff opposition from the political outfits in Tamil Nadu, including DMK and the AIADMK, over the Prime Minister's visit to Sri Lanka.

The Tamil Nadu assembly unanimously adopted a resolution last month 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 when the military feared the rebel Tamil Tigers.

The DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi has also warned that if the Prime Minister travels to Sri Lanka, 'his party will have to face the consequences'.