The 1971 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the first

Meeting A meeting is when two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of group decision making. Defini ...

of the

Heads of Government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

of the Commonwealth of Nations (formerly named the British Commonwealth). It was held in Singapore, between 14 January 1971 and 22 January 1971, and was hosted by that country's Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew. British prime minister Edward Heath advised

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

not to attend the conference due to a row within the Commonwealth over Britain selling arms to South Africa. It would be the only CHOGM the Queen would miss until 2013. Ugandan president Milton Obote was overthrown by Idi Amin in a military coup, whilst he was attending the meeting. At the meeting the Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles was agreed setting out the core political values that would form the main part of the Commonwealth's membership criteria. The final document was not ratified by Pakistan. Topics discussed at the meeting included Chinese representation at the United Nations, East- West relations, conflict in the Southeast Asia, Portuguese violations of Guinean sovereignty and situation in Portuguese colonies, and South African situation. Members also discussed the repercussions of future Accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities.

References

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

Diplomatic conferences in Singapore 20th-century diplomatic conferences 1971 in international relations 1971 in Singapore 1971 conferences January 1971 events in Asia Singapore and the Commonwealth of Nations {{poli-stub