The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa tabled a resolution in the state Assembly calling on New Delhi to boycott next month's Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka.

The mercurial chief minister has been pushing Manmohan Singh to boycott the summit to protest against alleged “violation of human rights of Tamils there”.

Earlier this month, Jaya had written Singh a letter stating: "I wish to reiterate Tamil Nadu's view that India should not participate in the CHOGM hosted by Sri Lanka at any level - titular, ministerial or official.

The mention of “titular, ministerial or official” isn’t coincidental. Jaya wishes to block any possibility that Singh take a leaf out of Canada’s book. Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced earlier this month that he would (personally) boycott the summit meeting because of the country’s failure to investigate war crime allegations and human rights abuses during and after its civil war, which came to a bloody end in 2009. A junior minister is representing him instead.

A red-faced Commonwealth Secretariat hung on to this straw, but former Canadian PM Brian Mulroney wryly observed: “If you were going to boycott the Commonwealth because of illustrations of improper government or abusive treatment of people within some of the member countries, some days you wouldn’t have too many people around that Commonwealth table for tea!”

If Singh refuses the cuppa isn’t going to change the world. CHOGM is indeed is a pretty nonsensical grouping.

But caving in to the Tamil Nadu legislature, or in a foreseeable context Rahul Gandhi if only some aide whispered the merits of “CHOGM-is-nonsense” in Yuvraj’s ear, will lead to three horrid consequences:

1. Foreign policy, one of those rare subjects in the Union list, will become hostage to state-level chieftains and officially. I say “officially” because Mamata Banerjee made a mockery of Prime Ministerial intent on the Teesta agreement with Bangladesh but without a legislative mandate. Ditto for Oomen Chandy who got New Delhi’s additional solicitor-general changed because the man wasn’t playing Kerala politics against Italian marines.

2. India will burn its boats with a neighbour for decades to follow. Rather than Jaya-brand of tokenism, we should do instead is to bolster our economic might (an idea Narendra Modi coincidentally mentioned at last week’s Nani Palkhiwala Memorial Lecture in Chenna!) and foster deeper economic integration with Mahinda Rajapksa.

3. Kamlesh Sharma, an Indian mandarin heads the Commonwealth Secretariat. Last year, Singh personally endorsed a four-year extension for him. A Prime Ministerial cancellation will embarrass Sharma. And us too.