PM arrives for G-20 summit, against protectionist sentiments

V S Chandrasekar
Seoul, Nov 10 (PTI) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
arrived here Wednesday for the G-20 summit cautioning against
protectionism while declaring it was in India's interest to
have an "open, stable and rule-based" international economic
environment including in trade and investment flows.
"Given the vast development challenges we face it is in
India's interest to have an open, stable and rule-based
international economic environment, whether in the field of
trade, investment flows, technology transfers or open
markets," Singh said on the eve of the fifth Summit of 20
advanced and emerging economies(G-20) in the South Korean
Capital.
Singh's comments came as the G-20 countries worked to
rebalance the lopsided global economy and resolve fractious
currency disputes marked by a war of words. The summit's theme
of the Seoul summit is 'Shared Growth beyond the Crisis'.
The summit which will be also attended by US President
Barack Obama is also expected to see heated debate on the
issue of regulatory reforms of the financial sector.
"This is a key area of work, and we must guard against
complacency in the pursuit of a strong financial regulatory
framework and effective supervision," Singh said.
Singh's delegation for the two-day summit included
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia,
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Finance secretary Ashok
Chawla.
"We have to be particularly wary of protectionist
sentiments. There are also developmental imbalances within and
between countries, and rebalancing of the world economy is a
major challenge. The success of the Mutual Assessment Process
is important in this regard." Singh said in a statement.
"India will actively participate in this process to
strike the right balance between ensuring its credibility as
well as the national interests of countries," he said.
The Prime Minister said the Seoul Summit will focus on
the G-20 framework for strong sustainable and balanced growth,
including an ambitious outcome in the form of the Seoul Action
Plan.
"We will work with the others towards this end, and
also encourage the G-20 to focus on the development agenda
which is being introduced for the first time in Seoul. We must
also give though to how we can leverage global imbalances to
bridge the infrastructure gap between rich and poor nations,"
Singh said.(MORE) PTI