Treat developing nations as partners, not petitioners: PM
Friday, 08 June 2007, 19:30 IST
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Berlin: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday said developing countries must be treated as "partners and not petitioners" in the changed global scenario, especially while dealing with key geopolitical issues. Addressing a meeting among the leaders of the five outreach partners of the Group of Eight (G8) nations here, the prime minister said it was essential that rich nations took the views of developing countries seriously and treated them as stakeholders. Besides Manmohan Singh, the meeting was attended by Chinese President Hu Jintao, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Mexican President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa and South African President Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki. The meeting, ahead of the outreach summit with the influential G8 Friday, also discussed how the five countries could push South-South cooperation in various issues of global importance. The G8 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US. Climate change, the Doha Development Round of global trade talks and inclusive growth were among the issues discussed by the five leaders, Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters after the meeting. "It was a natural fit," Menon said, adding that the five leaders also felt that there should be much more engagement among their countries, especially since they account for 42 percent of the world population. "They spoke in one voice." Earlier, Manmohan Singh called on Mexican President Hinojosa and discussed issues like inclusive growth and how economic ties could be pushed between the two sides. The Mexican president mentioned that Indian companies were emerging as major investors in his country in areas like pharmaceuticals, IT and steel. He said Indian firms had invested some $2 billion so far, and expected another $3 billion this year. Being an economist himself, Hinojosa was also interested in knowing from Manmohan Singh how India had achieved a growth of 9.4 percent last year. The prime minister, while attributing it to factors like high savings and investment rate, said the effort was now on to make the growth inclusive.
Source: IANS
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