Sri Lanka was very keen to see Manmohan Singh at the summit. It sent its Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris in August to personally hand over the invite.
The prime minister, a strong votary of good neighbourly relations, was reportedly keen to go.
The external affairs ministry also pushed for his attendance at the summit, keeping in mind India's overall security and strategic interests.
The DMK and the AIADMK, along with other Tamil parties, however, demanded that India boycott the summit. Central ministers P. Chidambaram, Jayanthi Natarajan and G.K. Vasan -- who all hail from Tamil Nadu -- as well as V. Narayanasamy -- who is from Puduchery -- were pressing the prime minister that he keep in mind Tamil interests while deciding, especially with the general elections in the country just months ahead.
