Secretary-General concludes visit to India

05 December 2014
News

Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma concluded a visit to India this week, where he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the deepening engagement and leadership by India in the Commonwealth.

Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma concluded a visit to India this week, where he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the deepening engagement and leadership by India in the Commonwealth.

“As a founding member of the modern Commonwealth, India has a long, distinguished and unique role in inspiring and supporting democracy, development and diversity across our membership,” said Mr Sharma.

During his visit, Mr Sharma also met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to discuss India’s support for Commonwealth priorities and Ministerial meetings.

He said: “We warmly appreciate India’s membership at present in the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, as well as its willingness to consider a leadership role at next year’s Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting, and its ongoing support for the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation as the flagship Commonwealth fund for delivering ‘South-South’ technical cooperation between developing member states”.

Mr Sharma participated at the Commonwealth Science Conference, which took place in Bengaluru from 25-28 November. The conference was jointly organised by the Royal Society and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and was held after a gap of 47 years. The conference brought together scientists, policymakers and experts from over 30 Commonwealth countries.

Find out more about the Commonwealth Science Conference 2014