Commonwealth Secretary General visits India

Secretary General of the 53-nation Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma comes here Saturday night on a week-long visit that will focus on the ongoing preparations for the 2010 Games in the Indian capital Oct 3-14.

Sharma will Monday attend a seminar on the future of Commonwealth Games and participate in a Commonwealth Writers' Conference here.

He will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and hold discussions with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal and Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.

Ahead of his visit, Sharma struck an upbeat note, saying the 2010 Games will be "a big success".

"I have confidence that the infrastructure will be ready in time and the Games will be a big success. It is for the Organising Committee to attend matters connected with the preparations of the Games," Sharma had said.

He will also take up Indian authorities allegations about 43 workers dying on sites being built for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

A five-member panel set up by Delhi High Court had made critical observations about workers' conditions at Games sites.