BY Meera Srinivasan

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday said he was satisfied with the level of India’s representation at the ongoing Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Commonwealth Secretary-General Mr. Kamalesh Sharma held a press conference this morning ahead of the commencement of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013 taking place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, this week-pic: news.lk

Dr. Manmohan Singh, he said, did not participate in the Commonwealth summit held in Perth in 2011, addressing local and foreign media at a press conference in connection with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

On whether Dr. Singh’s absence was because of his considerations of Tamil sentiments, President Rajapaksa said: “He did not say that to me, the letter [Dr. Singh sent] said something different,” in response to a question from a journalist representing a Tamil television channel in India.

Responding to questions on allegations of war crimes, President Rajapaksa said: “You all must respect a country’s system, a country’s culture.” Observing that Sri Lanka was ready to look into allegations, he said. “We are very open, we have nothing to hide.”

Whether it was torture or rape, anyone who wishes to make a complaint could do so through the system, he said, referring to the country’s legal system and the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) – appointed by the Sri Lankan government in 2010 – and the country’s Human Rights Commission.

“If there is any violation, we will take action against anybody,” said the President, who will turn 68 in a few days.

To a question from a British journalist on whether the President would, while shaking hands with the Prince of Wales currently in Colombo, “admit to Sri Lanka’s dire human rights record” the President, visibly put off, said: “Before I shake hands I will say ‘ayubowan’ [may you live long], that’s the way a Sri Lankan greets anybody – whether it’s a king, or queen or beggar.”

Responding to another question on whether he would hold a one-on-one meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron who plans to ask him some tough questions, he said: “Yes, I will meet him. I have already given him an appointment…we’ll have to see, I will also have to ask him some questions.”

Earlier, referring to the 30 year-long conflict, President Rajapaksa said the country had suffered a lot. There were human rights violations – civilians were killed, women and children suffered a lot. “Today no one is getting killed. We finished that war; that menace. And that is something people are appreciating,” he said.

Queried on whether the Commonwealth made a mockery of its values by holding its summit in Sri Lanka – which faces allegations of human rights violations and war crimes – Kamalesh Sharma, the Commonwealth’s Secretary-General, said the Commonwealth was engaging with Sri Lanka on several issues. “It is not making a mockery.

It is showing the Commonwealth in action,” he said. COURTESY: The Hindu