Towards a common, fairer, secure, sustainable and prosperous future of India, PM Narendra Modi met with Her Majesty the Queen, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and other leaders of Commonwealth countries at the formal opening of the CHOGM Summit 2018 at Buckingham Palace.
PM Modi announced a number of initiatives in the direction which include doubling of India’s contribution for Common Fund to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, taking up small projects in the small countries through the permanent mission for the UN, capacity building and training programmes in areas including cricket and skill development.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the CHOGM 2018 Summit, Prime Minister Modi held a series of bilateral interactions with member-countries including Australia, Bangladesh, South Africa, Gambia, Trindad,Tobago and Mauritius.
External Affairs Ministry official representative Raveesh Kumar said that these interactions and bilateral discussions mainly focused on development, maritime and security concerns of the small states. He added that India’s focus towards the assistance to smaller states should be demand-driven rather than donor-driven.
The spokesperson said, India and Bangladesh focused primarily on development cooperation during the bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheik Hasina.
He said, broad contours of the discussions were the action plans that the two sides agreed during their earlier visits to each other’s country and now discussed their follow-ups and how to further them.