India has lost an opportunity by not attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo last month, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam told the Telegraph in Calcuta.
The newspaper said the Lankan envoy had described as “unfortunate” Manmohan Singh’s absence from last month’s Commonwealth meeting in Colombo.
Indian PM
Kariyawasam denied knowledge of a visit by Prime Minister Singh to the Northern capital of Jaffna as announced by Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram last week.
“It was unfortunate that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo,” Sri Lanka’s high commissioner in India Prasad Kariyawasam told The Telegraph.
He said Singh’s decision to be absent at CHOGM was an “opportunity lost”.
The Lankan High Commissioner told the newspaper that not only would have Singh’s presence at the CHOGM been widely applauded, he would have also had the chance to see the “enormous progress” in the work done with Indian help in the northern province of Jaffna that is home to Tamils.
“The progress we have made in the northern province with Indian help is enormous. Had the PM visited Jaffna for CHOGM, he would have been able to see it himself. It would have helped the India-Sri Lanka partnership and the reconciliation process further. It was an opportunity lost,” Kariyawasam said. The envoy said the Lankan government had no information about any forthcoming visit by Singh.
The newspaper also quoted a senior official at the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi as saying that it was sad that Manmohan Singh succumbed to internal pressures without thinking about the long-standing relationship between the two countries.
The newspaper quoted a diplomat in Delhi as saying that President Mahinda Rajapaksa was “highly disappointed”. “When heads of all states were arriving at CHOGM, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif got the biggest applause. This applause would have gone to Singh if he had attended the meeting because he would have appeared as the tallest leader of the region who did not succumb to any internal pressure,” the diplomat said.
Ajith / December 5, 2013
Yes He missed the opportunity to see the mothers of disappeared sons, daughters, husbands and the land occupied by the Sinhala Buddhist military and the military establishments erected on the mass graves of over 70000 civilians by your blood thirsty regime.
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WINSTON DEVALLIERE / December 5, 2013
NOTHING NEW TO SINGH.. HE ALSO MISSED THE FANTASTIC MILITARY “DEVELOPMENTS’ ACCOMPLISHED WITH INDIAN MILITARY AID SPREAD OVER FOUR DAYS OF THE END GAME IN NANDIKADAL.WHAT FEW PEOPLE KNOW IS THAT INDOSAT DID NOT MISS MUCH.
WILL SOMEONE TELL KARIYAWASAM AND OTHER DIPLO-MUTTS QUOTED IN THE TELEGRAPH THAT THE ONLY APPLAUSE SINGH IS RIGHT NOW INTERESTED IN IS THAT OF AN ELECTION VICTORY. YE GODS, WHAT UTTER BUFFONS SRI LANKA HAS IN ITS FOREIGN SERVICE.
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kris / December 6, 2013
Yes He missed the opportunity to see the mothers of disappeared sons, daughters, husbands
Who are those missing people they are bloody terrorist , IF singh came in 2009 he could have seen the Prabakaran’s mother too
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Thiru / December 5, 2013
“Manmohan Skipping CHOGM Was A Lost Opportunity: Lankan Envoy To Delhi” —————————————————————————————————– Yeah, it was a lost opportunity for Sri Lanka to get moral support for its on-going genocide of Tamils.
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Thiru / December 5, 2013
“he would have also had the chance to see the “enormous progress” in the work done with Indian help in the northern province of Jaffna that is home to Tamils.”———————————————————————————————————- Yeah, “enormous progress” in Sinhalization of the North!
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Thiru / December 5, 2013
“Had the PM visited Jaffna for CHOGM, he would have been able to see it himself. It would have helped the India-Sri Lanka partnership and the reconciliation process further. “—————————————————————————————————– Yeah, it would have helped the on-going genocide of Tamils without Western hindrance!
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Thiru / December 5, 2013
” Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi as saying that it was sad that Manmohan Singh succumbed to internal pressures without thinking about the long-standing relationship between the two countries.” —————————————————————————————————- Yes, the long-standing relationship between the two countries in aiding, abetting and executing the genocide of Tamils
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justice / December 5, 2013
The “enormous progress” in intimidatary state electioneering,human rights violations,suppression of civic rights,oppression of civilians in demolition of their homes,denial of livelihoods by the army,forced relocation of citizens from down south,houses built by indian aid allocated to political lackeys excluding those in need,rape and harassment of war widows and the climate of fear – all eneumerated by the TNA leader in parliament,would have been seen by PM Singh if he had attended CHOGM & visited the north.
Of 41 members of Commonwealth,only 23 heads of state attended.
Karyawasam is purposely blind to realities.
His pathetic attempt at whitewashing the CHOGM circus is pitiable.
Only PM Cameron had the concern to verify the state of ‘governance’ in the north.
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Bandara / December 5, 2013
I dont think so. It was their stand. But i thought Indians could come with their reasons not to attend it… as it was the case with Candians. Latter made it clear why they would not be away from the summit.
Indians have their kind of domestic compusions to decide so.
But if MR regime could manage to get him to be present there could have been plus to MR. How can they do the job well – while entire foreign ministery has been handled by a puppet- all respect to his credentials, but handling it by GLP has reached to dead ends now.
That further proves that there are no independent actions allowed to be taken by ministries. MR is interfereing in any foreign appointment.
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email / December 6, 2013
Why would the Indian PM requests a visit to Northern Province only? Why not request a visit to see the estate Tamils and the Southern Tamils living in other parts of Sri Lanka? We have built houses and roads for the benefit of them as well…..
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bbs dayan / December 6, 2013
Kariyavasam is a Tamil converted to a Sinhala, like the jews who served the Nazi’s he has to stand on his tail and shout patriotism the loudest otherwise they may kill him like they did Tamils in the 83 riots.
I pity Mr. Kari, a fate worse than spitting Kari!
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Javi / December 6, 2013
Tadpole (゜゜)～ It was an opportunity lost,” Kariyawasam said.(゜゜)～ Tadpole.
Burro! shooting from the void between the ears. – incompetency at best! (^o^)
If I want to knock a story off the front page, I just change my hairstyle.
Changing one’s hair is the only part of the body that you can change at will.
-Hillary Clinton ◕‿◕
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Like `Gooo`ta DPL; GO go Now!!
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Saro / December 8, 2013
Manmohan Singh is recognised as a world leader by most countries of the world. But he wouldn’t have been allowed to talk to the widows or victims of rape or military attacks. He knows about the ‘“enormous progress” in the work done with Indian help in the northern province’. Roads and hotels are of no use to the most in the north as they exist without mere basics but useful to the public and military.
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