Syed Akbaruddin: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: Singh will be the second leader after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to boycott the Nov. 15-17 meeting. There are 54 members of the Commonwealth, a loose association of former British colonies, according to CTV. Singh sent a letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing his inability to attend the summit, said Syed Akbaruddin, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman. He did not divulge the contents of the letter and NEW DELHI -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided against attending a Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka this week over the island nation's human rights record, an Indian official said Sunday. Their decision is expected to sharpen focus on the demand by Western nations and rights activists that Sri Lanka account for thousands of civilians who are suspected to have died in the final months of a quarter-century civil war that that ended in 2009 when government forces crushed separatist Tamil rebels. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.