G-20 Summit a success; India was heard and no discordant notes: PM

By Gurdip Singh

New Delhi, Nov 17 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says the G-20 Summit was a "successful affair" where there was no attempt to make "partisan points" and India's voice, which spoke for developing countries, was heard.
The Prime Minister said the Summit was a clear indication that the balance of power was increasingly shifting in favour of emerging economies.
The Prime Minister's remarks came while speaking to the media on board his special aircraft while returning back home after addressing the G-20 Summit in Washington yesterday. The Summit was convened by US President George W Bush.
"When President Bush first spoke to me about the idea, I had mentioned to him that there was a risk that if the meeting was not well prepared, it could be counter productive. Also, I was worried that the Europeans and Americans may not be able to agree on some
points. And similarly, the emerging economies point of view may not receive the attention that we would like, in which case there would be a clear picture of dissension", he said.
A situation where there was no clear convergence of views would not have been good for handling the global financial crisis or its aftermath and the world recession that is now on the horizon, he said.
"But I must tell you that the meeting could be described as a very successful affair. There was no attempt to score partisan points," he said.
"For a meeting which was convened at such short notice, I must say it was well prepared and there was no attempt to score partisan points. The Chinese and the Russians and all others said that the communiqué was a document which they could endorse. That I think is a positive feature of the outcome of this meeting," he said.
The Prime Minister said previously as well India was being invited for G-8 meetings, but said "consultations were merely for the sake of form. Our views were not really taken into account," while firming up the views of the member countries and strategies.
"This is for the first there was a genuine dialogue between major developed countries and major emerging countries. So, I believe this is one reflection of the shifting balance of economic power. The Western World at long last has realised the reality. This is a
positive gain," he said.
The G-8 has a narrow base with its members being the United Kingdom, United States, France, Russia, Canada, Germany, Japan and Italy. These members are also part of the G-20. India for the past few years is invited to attend the G-8's main meetings.
He said the Summit recognised that the world was faced with a major political crisis and it was now threatening to spill over to the real economy of both the developed and developing countries. There was also the recognition that as far as developing countries were concerned, though they had done nothing to contribute to this crisis, they were "probably the worst sufferers."
He said exports of developing countries were down as also flow of private capital and Foreign Direct Investment. There was an attempt on the part of foreign capital to fly out putting pressure on the exchange of rate of a number of developing countries. Besides, there was a danger that the flow of remittances from overseas workers may decline.
"Our concern was that in tackling the crisis, the developed countries, particularly with regard to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals" may falter. And all developing countries were united in making that this crisis should not become an occasion to divert the world's attention from the development dimension of human conditions."
He said India's point of view was that in a situation where private capital was not available for various reasons--a case of a market failure--there was need to mount considerable fiscal stimulus. In the present time, inflation was much less of a danger
while deflation was a real concern which the world has to grapple with. Therefore, those countries which have the maneuverability should use fiscal stimulus to stimulate demand.
The Prime Minister said as far as developing countries were concerned, infrastructure investment and its protection would be a major contributory factor to sustaining growth rates. It was for this reason that International financial institutions-- the World
Bank, IMF and Regional Development Banks--must come out with facilities to increase their assistance to developing countries.
"I was very happy that in anticipation of the meeting both the Fund and the Bank came out with schemes," he said.
The Prime Minister said there was unanimity in the meetings that international financial institutions must be provided with adequate resources to meet the challenge of the crisis, especially as far as developing countries were concerned.
The G-20 Committee has agreed on a work programme--short term, medium term and long term. It agreed to meet again in April to take stock of the situation. Meanwhile, there is work in progress on several issues. The reform of supervision and management systems of these institutions as well as reform of the governance structures of
international financial institutions, giving greater weight age to the emerging countries, he said.
"These are some of our concerns, which were taken on board. Work is in progress. We will know after three to four months how the work proceeds and what emerges out of
that", he said.
Asked weather there was agreement on his call for desisting protectionist tendencies, Dr Manmohan Singh said there was a general agreement that protectionism would be a wrong response to the present situation.
"It would only accentuate the crisis. Beggar thy neighbour policies have never worked in the past. They only slowdown and lead to decline of economic activity all around. So there is in the communiqué, I think a reaffirmation that all countries will resist recourse to protection tendencies," he said.
He said the communiqué gives urgency to the task of completing the stalled Doha Developmental Round, a point made by the Indian Prime Minister himself.
The Prime Minister was asked whether there was a discord between the Bush administration and the incoming Obama administration on the fiscal stimulus package.
Dr Manmohan Singh said that Mr Bush himself touched upon his relationship with the incoming administration in his closing remarks.
Mr Bush said the incoming administration has been fully briefed about what was happening and what will be the outcome. "He was, therefore, hopeful that there will be broad convergence of views. But I am not an expert on American politics to predict what will be the shape of things when the new administration takes over," Dr Singh said.
Mr Obama was conspicuous by his absence at the Summit. Since his elections some times back, Mr Obama has repeatedly stated that there is "only one President at a time."
Although the transition team is in Washington, Mr Obama has spent almost all his time since his election at home in Chicago.