Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the India portal of the “Commonwealth of Nations” website.
India is an ancient civilisation but a young nation. The ideal of ‘unity in diversity’ is embedded in its multilingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious ethos. It is a country endowed with great natural beauty, rich cultural heritage and fascinating diversity.
Today, India is increasingly getting integrated with the world as an open economy and an open society with a vision to ensure all round economic and social progress for its citizens.
India shares the Commonwealth values of tolerance, pluralism and equality of all people and looks forward to further strengthening its cooperation with all member countries of the Commonwealth.
I invite you to discover India.
Prime Minister’s website
The above message was provided by the previous Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.
India in the Commonwealth
did you know?
- India became a member of the Commonwealth in 1947
- India gained its independence on the 15th of August 1947
- India has been competing in the Commonwealth Games since 1934, and has won 271 medals
- Amartya Sen, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, UK, and the 1998 Nobel Laureate for Economics, delivered the 1st Annual Commonwealth Lecture, on ‘Human Rights: Is there a Commonwealth Perspective?’, in 1998
- Eleven Indians have won Commonwealth Writers’ Prizes
- Scholarships and fellowships are awarded by India to citizens of other Commonwealth countries under the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan
- This country hosts a national chapter of the Commonwealth Human Ecology
- The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative established its HQ in New Delhi in 1993
- The country is also host to the Commonwealth Veterinary Association’s secretariat in Bangalore and the Commonwealth Youth Programme’s Asia Centre in Chandigarh
- Over half of the Commonwealth’s two billion citizens are Indian
Senior Commonwealth officers
- Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary-General 2008-
- Amitav Banerji, Director of Political Affairs, Commonwealth Secretariat 2009-
- Dr Mohan Kaul, Director-General and CEO of the Commonwealth Business Council 1997-
- Maja Daruwala, Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
Commonwealth meetings hosted
- 1962 Second Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers
- 1983 CHOGM in New Delhi
- 2000 Sixth Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting
- 2008 Third Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune
- 2010 The XIX Commonwealth Games to be held in Delhi
Commonwealth Projects
State level implementation of CS-DRMS in India (2007/08)
This Commonwealth Secretariat commissioned project improved debt management capacity in four Indian states – Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, and Uttaranchal. These states have a computerised debt database in CS-DRMS for comprehensive monitoring and reporting of their debt liabilities. The project also assisted to improve their debt management capacity for prudent and sustainable debt management.
Integrated Marketing Programmes to Identify Opportunities in Europe for Herbal Medicine (1996-98)
In response to the rapidly growing demand in Western Europe for plant-based medicines, as well as health food products and herbal cosmetics, the Government of India requested technical assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat to raise the production and export of medicinal products, and in carrying out an Integrated Marketing Programmes targeted on the Western European Market. The Programme ran for over two years, and was successful in delivering its objectives.
Trade and Joint Venture Programmes for Indian Herbal Products in Europe (1998)
The objective of this Commonwealth funded project was to assist the Indian Herbal Sector in promoting their products in target markets overseas. This project achieved initial sales orders of ₤100,000 and four joint venture and sales collaborations negotiated between Indian manufacturers and buyers/businessmen in the target markets.
Development of the Packaging Industry (1995)
This Commonwealth funded project was a follow-up to an earlier project. EIDD had provided assistance to Argo Industrial Packaging India Limited (AIPIL) in the installation and commissioning of a corrugated cardboard carton plant. This plant is situated in Shimla in the Himachal Pradesh Province, and was established by the Himachal Pradesh government primarily on environmental grounds to provide substitute-packaging materials to fruit farmers, who previously utilised wooden boxes made from pine trees, which had resulted in extensive deforestation and soil erosion. The government has invested around ₤5million in buildings and equipment. The objective of this project then was to expand production and extend the product range. A British consultancy firm undertook this assignment, and while the project experienced delays in implementation, the objectives were realised.
