1948 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference

3rd Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
Host country United Kingdom United Kingdom
Dates 11 October 1948
22 October 1948
Cities London
Participants 9
Chair Clement Attlee
(Prime Minister)
Follows 1946
Precedes 1949
Key points
Independence of India, Pakistan & Ceylon; economic, military and diplomatic co-operation

The 1948 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference was the third Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in the United Kingdom in October 1948, and was hosted by that country's Prime Minister, Clement Attlee.

The meeting accepted the newly independent Dominion of Ceylon's application for membership in the Commonwealth and was the first meeting attended by the prime ministers of independent India, Pakistan and Ceylon. The issue of whether countries, specifically India, could remain Commonwealth members if they became republics was raised but was not resolved until the next conference in 1949.

Ireland did not participate although at the time the British Commonwealth still regarded Ireland as one of its members. Ireland had not participated in any equivalent conferences since 1932.

Participants

Nation Name Portfolio
United Kingdom United Kingdom Clement Attlee Prime Minister (Chairman)
Australia Australia H. V. Evatt Minister for External Affairs
Canada Canada William Lyon Mackenzie King Prime Minister
Dominion of Ceylon Ceylon Don Stephen Senanayake Prime Minister
India India Jawaharlal Nehru Prime Minister
New Zealand New Zealand Peter Fraser Prime Minister
Pakistan Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan Prime Minister
South Africa South Africa Eric Louw Minister of Mines and Economic Affairs
Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia Sir Godfrey Huggins Prime Minister[1]

References

  1. Huggins was also Minister for Native Affairs