New Delhi:
Whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend a Commonwealth summit in Colombo this month has become a prestige issue for Colombo and a political one in India.
Sources have told NDTV that both the Prime Minister's office and the Ministry of External Affairs have advised the PM to go.
And aiding the government of India is a letter from Jaffna's Tamil chief minister, Justice C V Wigneswaran.
"As the first chief minister of the northern province it is my duty to thank you and your esteemed country for persuading the Sri Lankan government to hold the northern provincial council elections. May I also take this opportunity to cordially invite your excellency to visit Jaffna whenever it is convenient for you," the letter said.
But parties in Tamil Nadu are against the Prime Minister's visit to Sri Lanka. M Karunanidhi, the chief of the DMK, a regional party which quit the PM's coalition in March, warned today that if Dr Manmohan Singh attends the conclave, "his party has to face the consequences."
The Congress cannot afford to take the statement lightly, especially in election season. The Tamil Nadu state assembly too had adopted a resolution urging that the PM skip the event.
Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan, who belongs to the Congress, met with the PM today and urged him to miss the Colombo session. "I met the PM. I requested that the sentiment of Tamil people regarding the CHOGM meet. The PM told me that he will weigh all options and take a right decision at a right time and announce."
It's a tightrope walk for the Indian government, caught between domestic compulsions and harsh geopolitics, between Chennai's demands and China's increasing assertion in the Island. For a country a boat ride away and one that shares cultural ties for thousands of years with India, China has made inroads too fast. China is seen as investing heavily by Sri Lankans but the hearts and minds are still closer to India - closest neighbour and a friend.