Britain wants India to revive the Commonwealth of Nations. The Theresa May government considers Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the recently held CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) as a positive development (especially after the Brexit). India didn’t take part in CHOGM twice in the past as New Delhi thought that the relevance of this intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states decreased in recent years. However, the Modi administration changed its decision this year. The Indian premier not only attended the CHOGM, but also urged the member states to strengthen co-operation and to boost trade ties. He informed Commonwealth leaders that the South Asian nation was ready to revive the group.

British PM with her Indian counterpart

Even a leading British daily has advocated India’s active role in the Commonwealth. According to the daily, India has so far tried to influence the Commonwealth through different regional blocs and trade organisations. Now, New Delhi is ready to play an important role as a Commonwealth member, as it wants to take a great global responsibility.
Prime Minister May reminded the participants that the Commonwealth nations have a total population of 2,400 million and 1,200 million of them are Indians. Moreover, 600 million Indians are under 25 years of age. So, India’s leadership is necessary to revive the Commonwealth, stressed the British PM.

Meanwhile, leaders of the member countries have chosen Prince Charles as the next head of the Commonwealth. They made a final decision in this regard during a meeting held at the Waterloo Chamber in Windsor Castle last week.
In her inaugural speech, Queen Elizabeth II said: “It is my sincere wish that the Commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations – and will decide that one day the Prince of Wales will carry on the important work started by my father in 1949.” It’s not that a member of the British Royal family will always lead the Commonwealth. So, Her Majesty’s sudden announcement came as a surprise. The Commonwealth leaders, including PM May and her Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau, accepted the Queen’s proposal, saying in a joint statement: “We recognise the role of the Queen in championing the Commonwealth and its peoples. The next head of the Commonwealth shall be His Royal Highness Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.”

Prince Charles & the Queen

Earlier, the Queen made it clear that India’s vote would be crucial in any ‘Commonwealth’ decision. In 2017, Prince Charles invited Prime Minister Modi to attend the CHOGM. Queen Elizabeth II held a separate meeting with PM Modi upon the latter’s arrival in London last week. According to foreign policy experts, the meeting is significant and India may get an opportunity to lead the Commonwealth in future.
The CHOGM in Britain marked the last such summit hosted by the Queen, who has ruled out long-haul travel and therefore unlikely to travel to any future CHOGMs to be hosted by other member-states.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das