Indian Foreign Secretary on CHOGM
Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit Meetings (CHOGMs) have a
format of Executive Sessions, where Heads of government interact in a
more formal manner and they make statements, and are accompanied by
Ministers or officials, and a Retreat, where the Heads of government
interact informally with their counterparts without the presence of any
aides. This element of CHOGM is what makes it a unique forum for
interaction among the leaders of 54 member countries, Indian Foreign
Secretary Shri Ranjan Mathai said addressing a media briefing.
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Shri Ranjan
Mathai |
The theme of CHOGM this year, chosen by Australia, is �Building
National Resilience, Building Global Resilience�. Australia has
circulated a Concept Paper on the theme which focuses on strengthening
the Commonwealth, to enable it to more effectively assist member nations
in dealing with current challenges as individual States, as members of
the Commonwealth, and as members of the global community. The paper
focuses on issues related to economic and social development, food and
energy security, and the adverse effects of climate change. Efforts are
also under way to enhance the Commonwealth�s role in international fora,
particularly the G20 process, the 17th Conference of Parties (COP-17),
and the Rio+20 meeting on sustainable development scheduled in Brazil
next year, he said.
In addition, the Heads of Government are expected to review
developments within the Commonwealth and globally. They will discuss a
whole gamut of issues of relevance to the Commonwealth ranging from the
promotion and protection of fundamental political values in the
Commonwealth, the global economic situation, international trade, the
Commonwealth�s engagement with the G20, climate change and sustainable
development, and initiatives to deal with the concerns of the youth and
women. A discussion on small States, which is particularly important
here because 32 of the 54 Commonwealth countries are small States, will
be held especially in the context of their vulnerability to economic
volatilities.
In terms of the Outcome Documents, the Heads of Government are
expected to issue a joint communique spelling out the position of the
Commonwealth on major issues including these international issues that
are of importance to the Association. A stand-alone Declaration on Food
Security Principles is also expected to be negotiated and adopted. A
number of Commonwealth-affiliated organizations such as Business, Youth
and People�s Forums will also be meeting during this period in Perth.
Reports on their activities will be presented to Foreign Ministers at
their meeting.
The Commonwealth has innate strengths and considerable expertise in
areas pertaining to economic, social, environmental and governance
issues. It has emerged as a �one-stop shop� for many of its members to
easily access a variety of assistance and support in these areas such as
technical advice, financial support, consultancy, feasibility reports,
managerial training and skill development. The Commonwealth is also
doing important work in the areas of gender equality, education and
youth.
The Commonwealth has been a pillar of support for many of the
geographically smaller developing countries, whom I referred to earlier,
particularly in facing the challenges arising out of the global economic
and financial crisis.
Question: There has been a push in Australia and also from the
Canadian Prime Minister to have the Sri Lankan proposed hosting of CHOGM
in 2013 postponed until there has been some, I think it has been said,
progress on human rights and accountability. What is India�s position on
that? Secondly, with regard to the Eminent Persons Group Report that is
likely to be submitted during CHOGM, there are some suggestions that
India does not support the creation of a Human Rights and Rule of Law
Monitor. Can you speak about that and explain what India�s objections
are?
Foreign Secretary: First of all on Sri Lanka, the decision was taken
in 2009 for the next two CHOGM Summits. I think that matter has been
decided already and it is not a subject which needs to be reopened.
As far as the Eminent Persons Group is concerned, we have seen the
report and we had a discussion on it in New York. The Foreign Ministers
of the Commonwealth met. I was present at that meeting. The report is
very voluminous. It has got 106 recommendations covering the entire
range of activities of the Commonwealth. The report itself was prepared
over a period of one year with five meetings between July 2010 and July
2011. Since that time the member governments have had only a few weeks
to actually look at it and in fact to start a discussion on it. I would
not like to comment on each of the recommendations. Even these 106 have
been classed into 14 core recommendations and the others. There are a
number of areas where we think there is need for a more careful view.
The proposal for the Commissioner for Democracy, Rule of Law and
Human Rights is one on which we have some reservations. The
responsibilities spelt out in this would seem to undermine the role of
both the Secretary-General and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group
itself which is dealing with those issues. Secondly, it seems to us that
this particular proposal is like a duplication of what the UN is doing
through its Rapporteurs.
And at a time when the organisation is facing budgetary difficulties
whether it should really go that direction, is not clear. I raised the
specific issue as to where the money was going to come from, and it was
mentioned that it might involve reallocation of some of the resources of
the Secretariat as of now. And when you consider that the current
allocation and budget of the Commonwealth secretariat has been decided
after considerable discussion and approval by the Heads, reallocation at
this stage does not seem appropriate.
It seems to us that the real focus of the Commonwealth should be once
again on the development challenges which are uppermost in the minds of
the vast majority of the members. So, while we support the important
values of democracy, rule of law and human rights, we believe the
Commonwealth should focus on strengthening the existing institutions
rather than trying to create new ones.
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