By IANS,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appears set to skip the forthcoming Commonwealth summit in Australia. Instead, Vice-President Hamid Ansari will represent India at the summit of former colonies of the British empire in October.
This is perhaps the first time Manmohan Singh will not attend the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM). He participated in the last two biennial summits at Port of Spain (2009) and Kampala (2007).
Ansari will head to Perth Oct 27 on a four-day visit for the summit of 54 Commonwealth countries which comprise a quarter of the world’s population.
The prime minister would not be going due to his other pressing engagements, official sources told IANS.
There has been no prime ministerial visit from India to Australia for over two decades.
The official theme for CHOGM 2011 is “Building National Resilience, Building Global Resilience”. The summit meeting will seek to promote democracy, the rule of law and good governance across the world.
The summit, to be held at Perth Oct 28, will be preceded by a meeting of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group in London and the Meeting of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers at the UN General Assembly in New York.
The leaders will discuss a host of pressing global issues, including the global financial situation, counter-terrorism and climate change.
The summit will also discuss the recommendations of the Eminent Persons Group on modernisation of the organisation.