By IANS,
New York : External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna has said that India looks forward to welcoming and hosting participants of the Commonwealth Games that begin in New Delhi Sunday.
“I would like to mention that India eagerly looks forward to welcoming sportspersons and officials from Commonwealth countries to the Delhi Commonwealth Games due to begin the coming Sunday,” Krishna said as he addressed the foreign ministers of Commonwealth nations Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Some 7,000 participants and officials from 71 countries and territories are expected to attend the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games, India’s biggest sporting event after the 1982 Asian Games.
In his speech, Krishna also hoped that the Commonwealth Secretariat will be more active in various sectors.
“I am convinced that the Commonwealth Secretariat will continue its pro-active role in other areas as mandated by 2009 CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) such as education, health, energy security, food security, migration, human rights, combating corruption, human trafficking, reform of international institutions, trade and investment, and assisting the small states to implement crisis-resilient strategies,” Krishna said here.
He said that India was well on way to implement the promises made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to provide for more training slots for Commonwealth nations as well as the creation of Commonwealth partnership portal.
He noted that India had an interest in “promoting, maintaining and strengthening healthy democratic institutions and the rule of law, which are the primary objectives of the Commonwealth”.
“With its unique membership structure, substantive orientation and style of functioning based on consensus-building, informality and goodwill, the Commonwealth provides its members with a strong sense of purpose and utility,” said Krishna.