Karunanidhi opposes invitation to Rajapaksa

Chennai, May 23 (IANS) DMK president M. Karunanidhi Friday opposed the invitation extended to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to attend the swearing-in ceremony of India's new prime minister Narendra Modi.

The invitation to Rajapaksa and his decision to attend the swearing-in ceremony cannot be accepted and welcomed by the people of Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi said in a statement issued here.

He said everybody knows the result of the earlier government's insistence on seeing Sri Lanka as a friendly nation despite being told of the island nation's anti-Tamil stance.

Karunanidhi said the soon-to-be sworn in BJP government should realise this truth at the start itself.

Major political parties barring some parties in Tamil Nadu like the PMK and DMDK have opposed the invitation extended to Rajapaksa to attend the ceremony.

On Thursday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa termed the invitation "unfortunate".