COLOMBO: The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran, today rejected President Mahinda Rajapaksa's call to join him to visit India to attend Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony.
A Tamil source said Wigneswaran rejected the invitation because he did not want to promote tokenism.
President Rajapaksa, who has confirmed his participation in the swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi on Monday, had invited Wigneswaran to be part of his entourage. Wigneswaran had said he would consult the northern provincial council on Rajapaksa's invitation.
Modi will be administered the oath as 15th Prime Minister of India by President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony to be attended by over 3,000 guests.
In September last year, Wigneswaran became the first ever Chief Minister of the Northern Province with an overwhelming mandate received by the Tamil National Alliance in the election.