Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today expressed satisfaction over External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid attending the Commonwealth summit.
"I am satisfied," he told a press conference when asked whether he was satisfied with the level of Indian participation at the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meet that opens in Colombo tomorrow.
When an Indian reporter stated that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has skipped the conference in deference to public sentiments in Tamil Nadu, Rajapaksa shot back, "But he has not said this to me".
The President noted that the Indian Prime Minister had not attended a previous summit in Perth two years ago. "The Foreign Minister is here. I am satisfied," he said.
Ignoring demands from political parties in Tamil Nadu for a total boycott, Mr Khurshid yesterday arrived in Colombo for the summit, making it clear that India's participation is not in any way dilution of its stand on Tamils in Sri Lanka.
India remains committed to the welfare of Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamils and would have to remain engaged with Sri Lanka in the "enlightened national interest", Mr Khurshid had said.
