EAM Jaishankar begins 4-day visit to Kigali on Wednesday

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will pay a four-day visit to Rwandan capital Kigali from Wednesday to attend a meeting of the Commonwealth heads of government. Jaishankar will be representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Commonwealth summit on June 24-25, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

"S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister (EAM), will be visiting Kigali from June 22 to 25 to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). EAM will be leading the Indian delegation to the CHOGM, which had earlier been postponed twice due to COVID-19 pandemic," the MEA said.

Jaishankar will also attend the pre-CHOGM foreign ministers' meeting on June 23.


The theme of 26th CHOGM Summit is: "Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming".

The leaders of the Commonwealth member states are scheduled to deliberate on issues of contemporary relevance, including global challenges like climate change, food security, health issues, and likely to adopt a number of documents including the Kigali declaration on child care and protection reform, declaration on sustainable urbanisation and commonwealth living lands charter.

"During the visit, the EAM is expected to hold several bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Commonwealth member states and other visiting dignitaries," the MEA said in a statement.

In 2018, India announced the creation of a Commonwealth window, dedicating USD 50 million for development projects and assistance to developing countries of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth is a diverse community of 53 nations that work together to promote prosperity, democracy and peace.