COMMONWEALTH PREMIERS

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29361, 14 November 1960, Page 15

COMMONWEALTH PREMIERS

Possible Meeting In March

(Rec. 10 p.m.)

LONDON, November 12

The British Prime Minister (Mr Harold Macmillan) was consulting with Commonwealth Prime Ministers about a London meeting next spring, according to an authoritative source yesterday No decision on the dates of the conference had yet been reached, said the source.

The Commonwealth Prime Ministers last met in London in May of this year, immediately before the summjt meeting in Paris. A Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ conference in the first half of 1961 seemed a practical certainty, said the “Financial Times” diplomatic correspondent today. “Such a meeting would, apart from dealing with Commonwealth questions, afford an opportunity to discuss the world political situation, which has undergone considerable changes since the premiers last met in May.” Mr John Diefenbaker. of Canada, said today he hoped that the next Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ conference would be held early next northern spring, the Canadian press reported. He said in an interview he would prefer to have the meeting in March. “Right from the beginning I have pressed for meetings at least once a year in which the heads of Commonwealth governments can exchange opinions about world affairs as well as Commonwealth affairs,” he said.