New Delhi: On the sidelines of the Common Wealth Heads of govt meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda, India's external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar on Thursday met his counterparts from New Zealand, South Africa, and Tuvalu. Jaishankar arrived in Kigali on Wednesday on a four-day visit to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). He will be representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the summit of the 54-nation bloc on June 24-25.
"Good to connect again with FM @NanaiaMahuta of New Zealand. Exchanged views on the agenda of the ongoing Commonwealth Summit. Spoke about strengthening our bilateral ties, especially its people-to-people aspects", Jaishankar tweeted. "Great as always to spend time with FM Naledi Pandor of South Africa. Discussed the international situation with her. Agreed that India and South Africa must together uphold the interest of the Global South", said Jaishankar in another tweet.
After a bilateral discussion with the Foreign minister of Tuvalu, EAM Jaishankar said, "Nice to meet FM Simon Kofe of Tuvalu. Discussed our development partnership, focusing on energy, health and climate action. India is strongly committed to advancing its Pacific Islands cooperation". The EAM will be leading the Indian delegation to the CHOGM, which had earlier been postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Also read: Jaishankar meets counterparts from Lanka, Bangladesh, Canada, Tanzania, Rwanda
Several Forums including the Commonwealth Youth Forum, Commonwealth Women Forum, Commonwealth Business Forum, Commonwealth People’s Forum, and other side events are also planned on the side-lines of CHOGM by the incoming Chair of the Commonwealth, i.e. the Government of the Republic of Rwanda. The theme of the 26th CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of govt meeting) Summit is: "Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming”.
The Leaders of the Commonwealth Member States are scheduled to deliberate on issues of contemporary relevance, including global challenges like – climate change, food security, and health issues and are likely to adopt the following four Outcome Documents: CHOGM Communique; Kigali Declaration on Child Care and Protection Reform; Declaration on Sustainable Urbanization and Commonwealth Living Lands Charter: A Commonwealth Call to Action on Living Lands (CALL).
The Commonwealth provides an important platform to deepen India’s engagement with Commonwealth members, in particular the Small States (SS) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). India is also one of the largest contributors to the Commonwealth and has assisted the organisation with technical assistance and capacity building. In 2018, India announced the creation of a Commonwealth Window, dedicating US$50 million for development projects and assistance to developing countries of the Commonwealth.
