NEW DELHI: Officials in Delhi are trying to work out a schedule for Sri Lanka’s northern province Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi next month. The provincial Chief Minister was invited by an NGO, People’s Union for Civil Liberties to give a public lecture on November 9.
While, PUCL claims that Wigneswaran has accepted the invitation, there is still uncertainty about the visit as the Prime Minister’s office was still trying to find time for Wigneswaran in Modi’s schedule.
The PM is scheduled to leave for his three-nation tour on May 11. So Wigneswaran may first land in Delhi, before travelling to Chennai. India had already given a verbal invitation to the northern province Chief Minister to visit the country after his election last year.
Earlier, President Mahinda Rajapapaksa had asked him to be part of his delegation participating in the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi, but Wigneswaran had turned down his offer.
The friction between the provincial government and Colombo has only increased over the month, with Wigneswaran recently refusing to attend any function of Rajapaksa, when he visited Jaffna, including the inauguration of the revived railway line.
The Tamil National Alliance leaders had visited India earlier in August. They had pointed out that Colombo was not making much progress on the reconciliation process ad not even allowing the elected officials to exercise power given in the 13th amendment.
In his turn, Rajapaksa in various rallies in the north has blamed the TNA for obstructing development in the province.