Mukherjee accepts invitation to visit Lanka
2008-10-20 09:06:15

India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has accepted an invitation to visit Sri Lanka but the dates have not been finalized, reports said.

Mr. Mukherjee will visit to Sri Lanka to make an assessment of the ongoing conflict in the island nation, following an invitation from his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama.

Reports said the visit would take place in the coming days, probably before the October 29 deadline the Tamil Nadu political parties gave New Delhi to stop what they call ‘genocide’ in Sri Lanka.

The invitation to Mr. Mukherjee comes against the backdrop of heightening political campaign in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu in support of Sri Lanka’s Tamils.

On Sunday, thousands of Tamil film personalities showed up in the southern Tamil Nadu city of Rameshwaram, home to thousands of Sri Lankan refugees and Indian fishermen who allege they are harassed by the Sri Lankan Navy.

They vowed to defend the Tamil cause and burned an effigy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.