§ Mr. Keyasked the Prime Minister what progress has been made in following up the intentions expressed in the communiqué issued at the end of the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference in New Delhi in 1983.
§ The Prime MinisterThe Commonwealth Secretary-General has made good progress in following up the tasks entrusted to him by the Commonwealth Heads of Government at their conference in New Delhi in 1983. Among the specific decisions of that conference, the study312W which Commonwealth Heads of Government asked the Commonwealth Secretary-General to undertake into the special needs of small states is now in progress. A study group under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of the Bahamas has been appointed and is expected to report its conclusions to the next Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. We have contributed ourselves to the study and will continue to give what support we can to its deliberations.
The Commonwealth consultative group on economic questions, appointed in accordance with the New Delhi statement on economic action, has already reported to Commonwealth Finance Ministers when they met in Toronto in September. The Commonwealth action group on Cyprus was convened, and lent its support to the initiatives now being taken by the United Nations Secretary-General.
We have given our support to the various conclusions reached in New Delhi on functional co-operation in the Commonwealth.
Progress in all these fields will be reviewed by the meeting of Commonwealth senior officials in Barbados in December 1984.