The Origins and History of the Commonwealth
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A new form of association
Indian independence led to a profound change in the British Commonwealth. After independence, India was led by Jawaharlal Nehru. He agreed to India having Dominion status, but his aim was to make India a republic, so that the British monarch would not be its head of state. He wanted, however, to keep the association with Britain, the Dominions and the rest of the Empire. As he said:
'We join the Commonwealth obviously because we think it is beneficial to us and to certain causes in the world that we wish to advance. The other countries of the Commonwealth want us to remain, because they think it is beneficial to them ... In a world where there are so many disruptive forces at work, where we are often at the verge of war, I think it is not a safe thing to encourage the breaking up of any association that one has ... it is better to keep a co-operative association going which may do good in this world rather than break it.'
The other countries of the British Commonwealth took some time to agree to a republic joining the association. Eventually, however, it was agreed that India could join. As part of this agreement, the title 'British Commonwealth of Nations' was dropped and India became a republic within the Commonwealth. This happened in 1949 - a turning point in the history of the Commonwealth.
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