India poised for bigger role in Commonwealth, to take over UK

India may be poised to play a leading role in the Commonwealth and take over the mantle from the United Kingdom in a way, as it hopes to set up in the country a secretariat of the grouping of former British colonies.

Prince Charles discussed with his interlocutors during his visit to the country last week the idea of a bigger role for India in the 52-member grouping owing to its benign and non-interfering approach as well as track record, people aware of the matter told ET. A Commonwealth secretariat in India might be on the cards in the future, said one of the persons, who did not wish to be identified.

Experts said that a bigger role in the Commonwealth would be particularly appealing to India because China is not a member of the grouping, unlike many other international forums where China tries to dominate the agenda. However, they said, India needs to guard against Pakistan, which is a member of the Commonwealth and may seek to play the spoilsport at the behest of China, its closest ally.

Pakistan is trying to garner support from certain African members of the Non-Aligned Movement on China’s position on South China Sea disputes, according to the diplomatic community.

India hopes to share its experience in areas such as solar energy, digitisation, trade and investment as part of its wider role in the Commonwealth, said a second person, especially since the country has undertaken several development-oriented and capacity-building projects in many of the Commonwealth nations from the Pacific to the West Indies.



PM Modi is believed to be interested in India taking on a larger role in the Commonwealth and he is expected to attend the Commonwealth summit in London in April 2018. He did not participate in the 2015 Commonwealth summit in Malta. Manmohan Singh did not attend Commonwealth summits in Australia in 2011 and Sri Lanka in 2013, when he was PM.

Experts said the UK is keen on decentralisation in the Commonwealth and wants other member countries to take the lead on various issues and projects. The agenda for the Modi-Charles dialogue was the next year’s summit that the UK is hosting. India has 55% of the Commonwealth’s 2.3-billion population and accounts for 26% of its internal trade.

Having stepped up its engagement with countries in Africa and the Pacific, India would get a platform in the Commonwealth to further its strategic and economic interests as a partner that does not dictate but implements projects, experts said.