PM-LD VISIT 2 LST

At the Summit, Singh is expected to underline the need
for greater impetus to securing nuclear material through
physical protection and legal mechanisms.
Singh is also likely to propose setting up of an
International Nuclear Safety Centre in India.
India sees the Summit and its associated preparatory
process as important elements in strengthening international
resolve to cooperate on nuclear security and supporting the
expanded use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
"This will be to India's benefit given our concerns on
terrorism as well as our interest in the expansion of civil
nuclear energy," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said a few
days back while talking about the upcoming Summit.
During his four-day stay in Washington, Singh will meet
Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Kazakhstan President
Nursultan Nazarbaev and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper.
In the second leg of the eight-day tour, Singh will
travel to Brazil to attend the Brazil-Russia-India-China
(BRIC) and India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Summits, where
Iran's controversial nuclear programme and the impending UN
sanctions would be among the key issues of discussions.
"These groupings reflect the growing role of emerging
economies in shaping the global economic order," the Prime
Minister said.
He said the IBSA process has come of age as it today
encompasses a wide range of activities which supplement the
excellent bilateral relations that India enjoys with each of
these countries.
"Our coordination on important international issues has
expanded, and our trilateral cooperation is beginning to bear
fruit in many sectors," he said.
The BRIC countries are among the largest and fastest
growing economies with rich human and material resources. They
represent the future of the global economic landscape.
"We have a high stake in the revival of the global
economy, an open trading system, energy security, combating
climate change and addressing non-traditional threats to
international security," the Prime Minister said.
Countries like Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela have
not been invited for the Summit in Washington.
However, Iran's nuclear issue and the controversy
surrounding it will be discussed under the BRIC format in
Brasilia by Singh, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese
President Hu Jintao and Brazilian President Lula da Silva.
Iran will be part of "focused agenda" of the BRIC Summit
for the first time, said Parbati Sen Vyas, Secretary (Economic
Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
The issue will also be discussed under the IBSA format by
Singh, Lula and South African President Jacob Zuma, said Vivek
Katju, Secretary (West) in the Ministry. PTI MS
RBT


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