Perth: Seasoned Indian diplomat Kamalesh
Sharma was on Sunday reappointed Secretary General of the
54-nation Commonwealth grouping for a four-year term beginning
April 2012.
India proposed 70-year-old Sharma`s name for a second
term to the coveted post at the concluding session of the 21st
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) here.
Pakistan seconded it.
The proposal was accepted unanimously by everybody.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard congratulated
Sharma on his re-appointment at a joint press conference with
Sharma on conclusion of the CHOGM.
"I am deeply appreciative of the confidence reposed by
the leaders of the Commonwealth for giving me a further term
in office," Sharma said.
Faced with a poser on his age at a time when the focus of
the Commonwealth was on the youth, Sharma had a deft response:
"In life it does not matter how old you are, but how young you
think."
Sharma, a former Indian High Commissioner to the United
Kingdom, was elected as Commonwealth Secretary General at the
19th CHOGM in Uganda over Michael Frendo, the Foreign Minister
of Malta.
Sharma has been associated with the Commonwealth since
2004 when he was a member of the Board of Governors of the
Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Foundation.
PTI
