Australian PM rejects calls to join Indian and Canadian leaders in Colombo summit boycott

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia's prime minister has reject calls that he join his Indian and Canadian counterparts in boycotting a British Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka this week over concerns about the island nation's human rights record.

India announced on Sunday that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be the second leader after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to stay away from the meeting.

Australian Senator Lee Rhiannon called on Prime Minister Tony Abbott to snub the meeting after she was prevented from holding a press conference on human rights in Colombo on Sunday by immigration officials who seized her passport and held her in her hotel for three hours of questioning.

But Abbott told Sydney radio 2GB on Monday that he is "not inclined to go overseas and give other countries lectures."