Kamlesh Sharma, the new Secretary General of Commonwealth

Nov 24:  India made its triumphant presence felt after Indian contender scripted his victory over other to become the Secretary General of Commonwealth at Uganda on November 24.

The 53 member Commonwealth leaders named Kamlesh Sharma as the new Secretary General of Commonwealth. He is presently serving in and as India’s Ambassador to Britain.

He will replace Don McKinnon on April 1 and was chosen unanimously over other leading contender Michael Frendo, Malta’s foreign secretary.

Kamlesh Sharma makes his distinction of being the alumnus of St. Stephen’s College and the King’s College of Cambridge. He served Indian Foreign Service as an officer. He also served as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

After serving the post of UN Secretary General Special Representative to East Timor, he took the current post as High Commissioner of India to Britain in 2004.

With his immense knowledge of global issues he can help reach to a consensus on highly discussed climatic issues.

Serving the very high profiled post he also played an important role in mooting out the Millennium Development Goals as he was closely associated with the formulation and adoption of this programme.

The 53 member Commonwealth is association of voluntary organisation of 53 independent states most of which are former British colonies. This is not a political organisation, but an organisation that co-operate within a framework of common values and goals including the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, egalitarianism, multilateralism and world peace.