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THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH 1. General Although notable developments in the constitutional structure of the British Commonwealth have taken place as a result of the decisions of the meeting of Commonwealth Prime Ministers in April, 1949, there has been no weakening in the spirit of friendly co-operation that has been increasingly characteristic of the Commonwealth connection. Day-to-day exchanges of views and information on both departmental and Ministerial levels have continued as in the past, and these have been supplemented by regular meetings of Commonwealth High Commissioners in London under the chairmanship of the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations. Wherever possible, Commonwealth Governments have kept one another informed of policies and lines of action that might affect the Commonwealth as a whole. Although Imperial Conferences and, more recently, meetings of Commonwealth Prime Ministers have been a regular feature in the development of the British Empire and Commonwealth, it was not till the Prime Ministers' meeting in London in 1948 that the principle of regular consultation at a Ministerial level in such specific fields as economic policy and foreign affairs was adopted. Arising from this, a meeting of Commonwealth Finance Ministers was held in London in July, 1949, and a meeting of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers (with a concurrent meeting of economic experts) in Colombo in January, 1950. There have thus been three full-scale Commonwealth meetings on a Ministerial level in the space of twelve months. • 2. Meeting of Prime Ministers (London, April, 1949) When the two new Asian Dominions of India and Pakistan were created on 15 August, 1947, their relationship to the British Commonwealth of Nations was not finally determined. The position of India in this regard naturally arose in connection with the work of the Indian Constituent Assembly on a draft Constitution. It soon became apparent that under the new Constitution India would become a " sovereign democratic republic " and that the sovereignty of His Majesty the King over India would be extinguished. The question remained as to whether, as a republic, India could retain her membership of the British Commonwealth. Could the constitutional basis of the Commonwealth connection be adapted to include a republican country owing no allegiance to the Crown ?