New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today sent a letter of regret to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, explaining why he is not attending the Commonwealth summit in Colombo next week.
The letter, whose contents were not disclosed, was sent following the UPA government's decision to scale down the level of India's participation at the Nov 15-17 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo.
This followed emotive protests by Tamil Nadu parties and opposition from some central Congress ministers over Sri Lanka's reported human rights abuses and its failure to devolve power to the Tamil minority.
The prime minister, who was in Chhattisgarh Saturday campaigning for the Congress in assembly elections, returned to the capital at night.
The letter was sent Sunday, an official source told IANS.
