The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has reported that the Indian media has 'heavily criticized' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's decision to skip Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo, calling it a 'serious diplomatic error'.
The Deccan Herald feels that Manmohan Singh has made a 'serious diplomatic error' by cancelling his participation in CHOGM
The Times of India says the government has taken the decision due to 'populist electoral considerations'.
The Hindu said, India's 'diplomatic blunder' can lead to Sri Lanka looking for other allies in the region, and also criticised regional Tamil parties, saying it is easier for them 'to flog the emotional overtones of the issue than respond to more pressing domestic concerns'.
Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper haven chosen to boycott the Summit over concerns of war crimes and human rights violations during Sri Lanka's civil war.
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The United Kingdom (UK) would be attending CHOGM later this week, and believed that boycotting the Summit would not bring a positive change in Sri Lanka.
According to BBC reports, Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said that he understood why other leaders had chosen not to attend, but for the UK to join them would 'damage the Commonwealth without changing things positively in Sri Lanka'.
He also said that they could only raise the issue of atrocities inflicted on the Tamil people in Sri Lanka only if UK was part of the Summit.
