In what is being seen as his growing clout, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla will undertake a nine day visit to India next month before moving on to Sri Lanka to the controversial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). The India trip — from November 6 to 14, has tremendous political significance.
The prince representing Queen Elizabeth at the CHOGM is being seen as the biggest endorsement till date that he is inching towards the British throne, especially with the growing concern over the Queen's frail health.
This will be the first time in 40 years — since 1973, that the 87-year-old monarch Queen Elizabeth will miss the meeting of the voluntary association of 54 countries. Charles, the Prince of Wales and heir apparent was therefore asked to represent her at the gathering raising speculation that his mother's restricted movement may speed up his promotion to the throne.
Unlike Queen Beatrix of Holland, Elizabeth however has publicly said she had made a promise to serve her people and thus will not abdicate her throne. Buckingham Palace confirmed that the queen, who still carries out in excess of 400 engagements annually, will not travel to Sri Lanka.
The queen is the head of the Commonwealth which meets every two years to discuss global issues. The last meeting was held in Perth, Australia, in 2011.
This will be Charles and the duchess's third official visit to India together.
In their most extensive visit to India to date, The prince and the duchess will travel to Dehradun, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Kochi where they will meet India's top political, business and cultural leaders. Specific events will include The Prince making an off-road trip into an "elephant corridor" in Kerala, The Duchess visiting the prestigious Doon School, and both visiting the Indian Military Academy and attending a gala dinner in Mumbai with a Bollywood flavour.
They will also mark Remembrance Sunday while in India. The Prince of Wales has made seven official visits to India. They will then travel to Sri Lanka for the CHOGM besides visiting a mental health initiative, a hospital and a tea estate.
The prince last visited in 2005 in the aftermath of the Boxing Day tsunami. The prince of Wales last visited Sir Lanka in 2005 and previously in 1998. This will be The duchess of Cornwall's first official visit to Sri Lanka. Prince Charles however is expected to face a barrage of criticism for agreeing to attend the meeting.
Activists across the world has been asking for the meeting venue to be changed keeping in mind Sri Lanka's patchy human rights record.
Director Callum Macrae whose film "No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka" exposed the Sri Lankan military's war crimes and showed pictures of LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran's son eating a snack just before he was shot dead has joined activists.
He said, "The idea that CHOGM should be hosted by a regime accused of such serious war crimes is abhorrent to most people who believe and hope the Commonwealth should be a force for good — a community of nations working towards human rights and justice."
Macrae clicked the photograph of Balachandran, the youngest son of the slain Tamil Tiger leader, eating a snack while sitting in a green sandbag bunker guarded by a soldier. The second image showed his bullet-riddled bare-chested body.
Macrae added "That the Sri Lankan government would then become the chair of the Commonwealth for the next two years is even more disturbing. A regime embroiled in an increasingly desperate and dishonest campaign to delay and deny the serious evidence of war crimes — and the growing international determination to call them to account — is in no position to defend the core values of the Commonwealth."
"If the Commonwealth drifts blindly into allowing itself to be headed by a regime accused of such appalling war crimes and crimes against humanity it would be catastrophic," he added.
Sharma however backed Sri Lanka and has refused to shift the venue of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) in November from Colombo.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Princes Charles and duchess to undertake their most extensive trip to India
Dengan url
http://makanansehatanak.blogspot.com/2013/10/princes-charles-and-duchess-to.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Princes Charles and duchess to undertake their most extensive trip to India
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Princes Charles and duchess to undertake their most extensive trip to India
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar