The Hindu : National : Dates for Manmohan’s Colombo visit not finalised

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Dates for Manmohan’s Colombo visit not finalised

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not participate in the 60th Independence Day celebrations of Sri Lanka on February 4, the island nation’s Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama, said here on Friday.

Mr. Bogollagama clarified that though Sri Lanka had extended an invitation to Dr. Singh, the dates of his visit are yet to be worked out.

The disclosure that the dates of Dr. Singh’s visit to the island nation have not yet been finalised was made a day after the Foreign Minister called the Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad to inform him about the decision of Colombo to abrogate the 2002 Cease Fire Agreement.

According to sources in the Sri Lanka Foreign Office, Mr. Prasad reportedly told the Minister that New Delhi was concerned about the current situation in the island nation and would like to see faster progress on a political package for the resolution of the ethnic conflict.

A few weeks ago, the Minister told Parliament that Sri Lanka had invited Dr. Singh to be the chief guest of the function on February 4 marking the 60th Independence Day.

First bilateral visit

If the dates are firmed up, it would be the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister in two decades.

Dr. Singh is also expected to be in Sri Lanka this year as SAARC Chairman. The 14th summit of the SAARC Council of Ministers agreed at their 29th session in New Delhi last week to host the 15th summit in 2008 in Sri Lanka.

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