PM meeting with Commonwealth Secretary-General
David Cameron met with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma.
Following the meeting, a Downing Street spokesperson said:
The Prime Minister (PM) welcomed the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, to Downing Street today ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting next month. He reaffirmed his support for the Commonwealth and the importance of upholding its shared values of peace, democracy, free trade and human rights.
The PM and Secretary-General agreed on the need for progress on reconciliation and human rights in Sri Lanka as host nation and the PM made clear that it is essential British media are granted access to the conference. Discussing the wider conference agenda, the PM raised recent events in the Maldives and encouraged the Commonwealth to use its collective influence to ensure that free and fair elections take place before the deadline of 11 November. He also looked ahead to the Commonwealth’s unique role in the UN process on post-2015 goals on development and hoped that this would be based on the Commonwealth values of strong institutions, human rights including rights for women and girls, peace and democracy.