KAMPALA, Nov 24: Commonwealth leaders unanimously appointed an Indian as secretary-general on Saturday, two days after the 53-nation federation suspended Pakistan.

Kamalesh Sharma, currently India’s high commissioner in Britain, will take up his post on April 1, 2008. New Zealander McKinnon is stepping down next year after the end of his second four-year term, the maximum allowed.

“It will be an honour and a privilege to serve this great international institution,” Sharma said at a news conference outside the Ugandan capital Kampala where the 53-nation grouping is holding its biennial summit.

The loose federation of former mostly British colonies or territories represents nearly a third of the world’s population from some of its poorest to some of its richest, and from some its smallest countries to its largest.

Sharma is the first secretary-general from an Asian Commonwealth country in more than 40 years and comes as India – the largest member state in the grouping – prepares to host the next Commonwealth Games in 2010.

On Thursday, Commonwealth foreign ministers overcame objections from some members such as Sri Lanka to suspend Pakistan for failing to restore democratic freedoms.

Islamabad reacted angrily to the suspension, describing the decision as “unreasonable and unjustified” and threatening to pull out of the Commonwealth.

It was yet to react to Sharma’s appointment.

Gathered in a retreat just outside Kampala, presidents and prime ministers from most of the Commonwealth’s members were, meanwhile, discussing efforts to combat climate change and to promote global trade.

Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, the group’s chairman, said on Friday that greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by at least 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.—AFP