Recently, the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) took place from June 20 to 25 in Kigali, Rwanda.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar led the Indian delegation.

In this article, we examine the role of the Commonwealth and India’s unique relationship with it.

The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organization of 53 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire.
It dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonization of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories.
It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nations through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference.
It was formalized by the UK through the Statute of Westminster in 1931.
The symbol of this free association is Queen Elizabeth II, who is the Head of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth was created in the early 1900s when nations that were formerly a part of the British Empire began to secede.
India is one of the founding members of the modern Commonwealth.
India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, played a key role in the creation of the modern Commonwealth in 1949, Indian policy-makers over the years have considered it as a relic of empire and steeped in colonial legacy.
Membership today is based on free and equal voluntary cooperation.

Commonwealth members has no legal obligations to one another.
Instead, they are united by language, history, culture and their shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Actual functioning: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)

CHOGM which takes place every two years is a platform for all Commonwealth leaders to meet and discuss issues pertaining to the Commonwealth.
The motto behind the meeting is to reaffirm common values, address the shared global challenges and agree how to work to create a better future.

The Commonwealth has become an important forum for London to recalibrate foreign policy.
Britain also wants to reinvent itself politically after Brexit.

India became a member in 1947, the first with chiefly non-European populations.
India’s new political interest in the Commonwealth is evident by the participation of PM at the 25th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London in 2018.
It marked the first Indian PM’s presence in a Commonwealth Summit after nearly a decade.

Old global grouping: First, the membership of the Commonwealth, virtually spanning the entire globe.
Scope for bilateral engagement: For India, membership and prospective leaders of the Commonwealth helps enhance its bilateral ties with individual countries.
Extending India’s soft power: The growing importance of small states for India’s foreign policy. For a rising India, the Commonwealth is the most natural theatre to demonstrate its credibility as a “leading power”.
Indian diaspora: Commonwealth-wide presence of Indian diaspora who once went there as indentured labour is another factor.
Ring-fencing against rivals: China is not and will never be a member of the Commonwealth.
Economic interests: India has the largest economy in the Commonwealth after the UK, India is expected to overtake the UK as the fifth-largest economy in the world and the largest in the Commonwealth.

No agenda: The grouping has no political or economic power, and even former immigration advantages between Commonwealth countries have also ceased to exist.
Declining relevance as a group: Considering its declining importance former PM Manmohan Singh skipped two CHOGM meets, while Narendra Modi didn’t attend the last one, held in Malta in 2015.
Imperialistic setup: Amidst the calls for the position of Commonwealth Head to be more democratically shared or rotated the announcement of Prince Charles as the successor has also put a dent on its democratic credentials.

Reach to small nations: From the Indian perspective, the Commonwealth offers opportunities to reach out to small states that make up around 60% of Commonwealth members.
Extending diplomatic presence: In some of these states, India has no diplomatic presence, and forging relations with these countries could help India secure crucial votes during UN or multilateral contests it is involved in.
Voice for small nations: It is also a larger network of countries than any other, except for the UN, which gives a chance for smaller countries to have their voices heard and make their concerns heard.
Most peaceful alliance: On a geopolitical scale, the Commonwealth continues to be an impressive show of the force of a peaceful alliance.
Democratic bloc: Also, for India, it provides an excellent opportunity to give shape to a model of international cooperation and partnership distinct from that of China.

India’s new political interest in the Commonwealth is encouraging. This provides a focus on the Commonwealth looking towards the future.
India has clear opportunities to enhance its global role and maximize its bilateral relations within the multilateral framework of the Commonwealth.
It will seek to focus on enhancing trade and investment in a multilateral Commonwealth-wide context.
The bloc may prove to be an important channel through which India can attempt to build a consensus to develop collaborative ways in dealing with global institutional reforms.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY