1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference

April 2022 4th Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference Commonwealth Prime Ministers in London 1949.jpg The Commonwealth prime ministers with King George VI at Buckingham Palace for the Conference, 1949 22–29 April 1949 London 8 Heads of Government Clement Attlee(British prime minister) 1948 1951 Dominion of India, London Declaration, Commonwealth citizenship, role of the Monarchy (King/Queen) (Head of the Commonwealth) The 1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference was the fourth meeting of the Heads of government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in the United Kingdom in April 1949 and was hosted by British Prime Minister Clement Attlee. The principal topic of the conference was the relationship of India,Rajan Mannaraswamighala Sreeranga https://archive.org/details/postwartransform0000raja_b8o6 The post war transformation of the Commonwealth: reflections on the Asian-African contribution Asia Pub. House 1963 6–14 which was intending to become a republic, to the Commonwealth. Hitherto the Commonwealth had been an association of Britain and British dominions, united by sharing the British sovereign as their head of state. The conference discussed whether a Commonwealth state could become a republic and remain in the Commonwealth and, if so, whether it had the same status in the Commonwealth as the dominions who had the British sovereign as their head of state.Banerji Arun Kumar https://archive.org/details/indiabritain19470000bane India and Britain, 1947-1968: the evolution of post-colonial relations 1977 Minerva Associates 978-0-88386-903-1 14–18 The Canadian government feared that, if India was not permitted to remain in the Commonwealth as an autonomous republic, then Pakistan, Ceylon, and South Africa would soon leave as well, resulting in the Commonwealth's collapse. Australian prime minister Ben Chifley argued for maintaining a strong British connection, whilst South Africa's newly elected nationalist prime minister, D. F. Malan, argued for complete independence.April 2026 In the London Declaration, Commonwealth prime ministers agreed to India's continued membership in the Commonwealth as a republic and that the King would have a new role in the Commonwealth not as a joint head of state but as "the symbol of the free association of its member nations, and as such Head of the Commonwealth." Four days before the Conference met, Ireland formally declared itself a republic.2019-04-18 Ireland leaves the Commonwealth, 1949 https://www.ria.ie/news/documents-irish-foreign-policy/ireland-leaves-commonwealth-1949 2021-03-22 Royal Irish Academy en The other members of the Commonwealth chose to regard that declaration as terminating Ireland's membership of the Commonwealth. Ireland had not participated in Commonwealth affairs since the 1930s but this was the first conference to be held after Ireland's membership was regarded as terminated. Participants Nation Name Portfolio United Kingdom Clement Attlee Prime Minister (Chairman) Australia Ben Chifley Prime Minister Canada 1921 Lester Pearson Secretary of State for External Affairs Ceylon 1948 Don Stephen Senanayake Prime Minister India Jawaharlal Nehru Prime Minister New Zealand Peter Fraser Prime Minister Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan Prime Minister South Africa 1928 South Africa Daniël François (D. F.) Malan Prime Minister References 1949 Category:Diplomatic conferences in the United Kingdom Category:1940s diplomatic conferences Category:1949 in international relations Category:1949 in London Category:United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations Category:1949 conferences Category:April 1949 in the United Kingdom Category:Clement Attlee Category:Lester B. Pearson Category:Jawaharlal Nehru Category:Liaquat Ali Khan