BJP's Tamil Nadu ally, MDMK, expressed its displeasure today at the saffron party on its participation in a conference in Sri Lanka, saying it had hurt the Tamils in that country and also in India and elsewhere.

Indian media reports say that MDMK chief Vaiko had criticized BJP's two-member delegation of Muralidhar Rao and Vijay Jolly in the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) saying that sending the delegation amounted to 'belittling' Tamils.

Vaiko had recalled that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had boycotted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo last November following a huge hue and cry in Tamil Nadu.

"BJP's sending of Rao and Jolly is an unforgivable act of betrayal and they should be recalled immediately," he said in a statement. The conference was an effort by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to 'hoodwink' the world, Vaiko had also said.