UNI

New Delhi, Nov 23: Prime minister Manmohan Singh left here on Thursday for Kampala, Uganda, to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

In a statement before his departure, Dr Singh said India was strongly committed to the Commonwealth's role of nurturing a sense of belonging to a shared past and a shared destiny based on common values.
  
"The Commonwealth is a forum that is uniquely placed to harness the strength and diversity of its membership in cooperating with each other and addressing the global challenges of trade, sustainable development and social advancement,'' he said.

CHOGM 2007 has a rich agenda before it, including a review of global developments, climate change, the Millennium Development Goals, human rights and terrorism.

The special theme of the meeting is ''Transforming Societies to achieve Political, Economic and Human Development". Issues relating to the 32 Small States which are members of the Commonwealth will also be taken up.

The Prime Minister said India had consistently played an active role in the Commonwealth.

"We have several technical assistance and cooperation programmes in place, particularly for the developing countries in Africa and the Small States, which we will seek to enhance."

"I look forward to meeting a large number of leaders and having a constructive dialogue with them on both bilateral and international issues. I will use the opportunity to highlight the major socio-economic transformation that is underway in India, and the opportunities this provides for the emergence of a new world order," Dr Singh added.