The Commonwealth in seeking to enhance its relevance and usefulness, needs to ensure that there is no conflict with the basic ethos of member countries, External Affairs Minister Professor G L Peiris said.
Addressing a Commonwealth Ministerial reception in New York co-hosted by the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom on Saturday, Professor Peiris said the occasion was a celebration of the Commonwealth as an institution of contemporary relevance as when it was initially established, with the pivotal values of the empowerment of people through representative institutions, maintaining due processes and social justice.