Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard congratulated Sharma on his re-appointment at a joint press conference with Sharma on conclusion of the CHOGM.
"I am deeply appreciative of the confidence reposed by the leaders of the Commonwealth for giving me a further term in office," Sharma said.
Faced with a poser on his age at a time when the focus of the Commonwealth was on the youth, Sharma had a deft response: "In life it does not matter how old you are, but how young you think."
Sharma, a former Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, was elected as Commonwealth Secretary General at the 19th CHOGM in Uganda over Michael Frendo, the Foreign Minister of Malta.
Sharma has been associated with the Commonwealth since 2004 when he was a member of the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Foundation.
From 2002 to 2004, Sharma served as the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to Timor Leste, with the rank of Under Secretary-General.
He was responsible for helping to build up a newly independent Timor Leste by strengthening internal security and public administration, including justice, financial administration, policing and protection of human rights.
From 1988 to 1990, he was India's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, where he acted as the spokesperson for developing countries in the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade talks.
During his tenure as Ambassador and the Indian Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, from 1997 to 2002, Sharma chaired the Working Group on Financing for Development, which led to the Monterrey Consensus.
(SP-30/10)
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