Foreign Minister Michael Frendo has lost his bid to become Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. The 53-nation organisation this morning appointed Indian diplomat Kamalesh Sharma to the post.

Sharma, the Indian High Commissioner in London, will take over on April 1 from New Zealand's Don McKinnon, who has been in the job for two terms, or eight years.

"It is a tough job I have taken over but I do so with confidence and enthusiasm ... the Commonwealth is a great global good," Sharma said when his appointment was announced by McKinnon during a summit of the group in Uganda.

The appointment was made after a secret vote.

Speaking to journalists, Mr Sharma diplomatically skirted a question on what will clearly be one of the biggest challenges in the first part of his administration – his plans to deal with the unfolding political crisis in  Pakistan.  Mr Sharma pointed out that he will be taking in four months’ time  and much could happen in the meantime.

“Someone arranged for me to take over on April fool’s day so I don’t know if someone knows something which I don’t,” he said humorously, “but I will be taking over in four months, one week is a long time in politics they say, four months is a very long time.”

The crisis in Pakistan had helped Dr Frendo’s bid, particularly as the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, which he currently chairs, had to decide to suspend the country from the Commonwealth until the political situation improved. Nonetheless it was not enough to counter India’s clout. The Commonwealth's members represent 1.8 billion people, or more than a quarter of the world's population.