Seen in photo from Left to right: Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; The Most Honourable Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica and His Excellency Narendra Modi, President of India during a state visit by the President of India to Jamaica in May 2022.
In a letter addressed to Minister Johnson Smith, the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Dr. S. Jaishankar expressed his Government’s assurance that her “excellent credentials and impeccable track record can offer the right leadership to the Commonwealth at this important juncture.”
The Indian External Affairs Minister further expressed the desire for collaboration to “ensure that the Commonwealth’s relevance and priorities are effectively met”. These are principal objectives of Minister Johnson Smith’s vision for the Commonwealth.
India’s endorsement follows the historical State Visit of the President of India, His Excellency Shri Ram Nath Kovind, the first to Jamaica by an Indian Head of State. The State Visit coincides with Jamaica’s and India’s celebration of sixty and seventy-five years of Independence respectively, as well as the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In welcoming the endorsement, Minister Johnson Smith stated that she shares the intent expressed by Minister Jaishankar to strengthen the excellent coordination between the two countries on a wide range of issues of mutual interest in the multilateral fora, and furthermore affirmed that she also looks forward to “engaging in robust multilateral co-operation, including within the family of connected and committed Commonwealth nations”.
India, a founding member of the Commonwealth and its most populous member state, joins a growing number of countries that have declared support for the Minister’s candidature for Secretary-General ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government Meeting (CHOGM) which will be hosted by Rwanda during the week of 20th June 2022.
Minister Johnson Smith’s full Candidature Statement, Profile and campaign updates are available at www.kaminajohnsonsmith.com.
