C'wealth moots new body for IT cooperation

A new agency is likely to be created for technical partnership among the Commonwealth countries, an initiative in which India can contribute in a big way, particularly by extending its IT expertise to smaller nations of the 53-member grouping, sources said on Tuesday.

India's Kamalesh Sharma, who was elected the next secretary general at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala last month, will leave for Delhi in the next few days for "consultations" as India could do "a lot" in providing technical cooperation, particularly in IT sector, to smaller countries of Commonwealth.

Sharma, a veteran diplomat who has held key positions, including India's Permanent Representative to the UN and spokesperson for developing countries in the UNCTAD during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, is also keen that a separate Commonwealth Fund should be set up for meeting urgent requirements of member-countries in times of natural calamities like floods and earthquakes.

According to Commonwealth sources, India has been assisting other countries a great deal both financially and technically. But the general feeling is that India could do much more.

The sources indicated that an "overwhelming" number of members of the Commonwealth, particularly the smaller countries, were keen that the nominee of Asia and particularly India should be chosen this time as it accounted for one-third of the world's population.

In the past, three attempts were made by Asian candidates, but they did not bear fruit. "But this time there was popular expectation that India, the flavour of the decade, should get the key position," the sources said.

The aspirations of smaller nations of the Commonwealth are rising high after the Indian candidate's selection.
On the question of suspension of Pakistan, the Commonwealth was clear that it had to be suspended for not meeting the ultimatum served on it and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) would meet once Islamabad concedes to all its demands, including lifting of emergency and holding of a fair and free elections.

Sixty-six-year-old Sharma, who succeeds Don McKinnon as the Commonwealth Secretary General on April 1, 2008, is likely to continue as the India's High Commissioner to the UK for the next couple of months.