It is a matter of great pride for India to host the 53rd Annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference. I deeply regret missing the opportunity of participating in this important Conference, which has brought together people from a large number of countries.

I welcome all the Parliamentarians, delegates and officials to the Conference. We in India are honoured to have you here as our guests. India has been an active member of the Commonwealth and has contributed on every front where the organization has played a role.

I look back on this long association with the Commonwealth with a sense of pride and fulfillment. I reaffirm once again our deep and abiding commitment to the ideas and ideals that the Commonwealth has come to be associated with. Of all the principles that have defined and motivated the Commonwealth, none is more important than our shared commitment to democracy, to an open society, to an open economy, to the rule of law and to Fundamental human freedoms.

I do sincerely believe that many of us in the Commonwealth have much to share with other countries in the common human quest for freedom and democracy. We are all proud of our plural, multi-religious, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural societies.

In the 20th century the Commonwealth symbolized the peaceful transition from colonialism to freedom. In the 21st century the Commonwealth will come to symbolize the hopes and aspirations of all humanity to live in an open society and an open economy.

Given the unique composition of our membership - spanning continents, bridging the North-South divide and including all races and religions we in the Commonwealth have the opportunity of creatively addressing the great challenges facing humankind today. The most important of these challenges is that of poverty, and the social, economic, political and ecological consequences of poverty.

The Commonwealth is a storehouse of experience and knowledge and we must put these to good use to banish mass poverty in our lifetime. There are other issues of global concern such as terrorism, the threat of climate change and the preservation of our environment that need our urgent attention.

I hope this Conference will address these important issues and impart new energy to the Commonwealth. As representatives of the people, you are best placed to reaffirm our shared commitment to the principles of democracy and to the equality of all peoples and nations that have come to define the Commonwealth. I wish the Conference all success.