Cannes: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived to the picturesque town in French Riviera on Wednesday for the sixth G20 Summit over the next two days with engagements that also include a host of bilateral meetings.
According to officials, even though the summit is expected to focus on resolving the Eurozone crisis, the prime minister will have a lot to say in areas such as growth, development, financial regulation, jobs and climate change.
Manmohan Singh is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his host, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and British Prime Minister David Cameroon, apart from pull asides with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
The prime minister, who was earlier scheduled to return to New Delhi in the evening Saturday, has advanced his return and leaves this city late Friday to touch down in the morning on Saturday.
There are at least three sessions where India looks forward to, officials said - one on an action plan for jobs, growth and reform of financial system, another on agriculture, energy and climate change, and the third on fight against graft.
"Developing economies such as India need a conducive global environment to address the vast challenges they face," the prime minister said in a statement, as he was leaving for the summit.
"In an increasingly interdependent world, we have to be wary of contagion effects and the import of inflationary pressures in our economy," he said, adding poor and emerging economies should not be denied funds to meet their challenges.
During the two-day summit, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montelk Singh Ahluwalia will be his sherpa, or chief interlocutor. His delegation includes National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, former ambassador to France.
The G20, originally formed at the level of finance ministers and central bank governors in 1999 after the East Asian economic crisis, has assumed significance after it was elevated to a summit-level forum in 2008 after the ongoing global financial crisis.
Besides India and France, the G20 comprises Brazil, the US and Canada, Argentina, Australia, China, South Korea, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, Britain, and the European Union.
Comments
0 comment