Wright (Chair): May I ask the three of you whether any of you would like to comment on how much did—does—our joint membership of the Commonwealth affect the role of the High Commission? Goodall: I was going to say, to follow up something Peter said—it does not quite answer your question—that there were regular meetings of the Commonwealth Heads of Mission and there were regular meetings of the EU Heads of Mission. In my day, there was a private—what we called the Old Commonwealth—meeting, which was a meeting of the American, British, Canadian and Australian High Commissioners and Ambassadors. Wade-Geary: And New Zealand. Goodall: And New Zealand. This last group was the most useful from my point of view. I have to say it was even more useful when the American Ambassador was unavoidably prevented from attending. It was the frankest and the most open meeting, and it was really valuable to me as High Commissioner. The EU meeting was rather stately; whoever was in the chair conducted it in a Brussels fashion. But the importance of the community was growing in the eyes of the Indians, who were gradually coming to understand that the European Union was there to stay. The Commonwealth group meeting was not particularly frank and it was not particularly useful. Wade-Geary: As I recall, no Indian ever remembered that they were a member of the Commonwealth. If I mentioned it, they said, ‘Oh, yes, of course.’ Goodall: Well, they had a kind of vague folk memory that they were supposed to be a member of the Commonwealth. I would not say that it was without its value, but in practical terms it was minimal at the time. That was sad, but there it was. Wright (Chair): But they presumably remember it more today, as they have an Indian Secretary-General. Goodall: Yes, I think much more. Dr Chandrika Kaul: And the Commonwealth Games. Goodall: This is another subject, but they did have a great respect for the Queen and a great interest in the Queen, so there was that. Wade-Gery: That is part of the relationship with us; it is not part of the relationship with New Zealand or British Columbia. It never crossed their mind that they had any relationship with New Zealand or British Columbia. Goodall: No, the relationship that they had with New Zealand was because its High Commissioner in New Delhi was the legendary Ed Hillary34 — that made a big difference. Talking specifically about the role of the High Commissioner, India is a federal country, so one of things you had to do was to travel round to the 34
Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008), New Zealand High Commissioner to India, 1985-9.
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