PM leaves for G20 summit in Washington

NEW DELHI: Prime minister Manmohan Singh is leaving for Washington late on Thursday to attend the G-20 meeting called by US president George Bush to discuss the financial meltdown affecting the world economy.

“As a major developing economy, which is getting increasingly integrated with the global economy, India has a vital stake in the stability of the international economic and financial system. I will put forward our views on the need for greater inclusivity in the international financial system...” Singh said in a statement ahead of his visit.

Singh, who was presiding over a Bay of Bengal nations summit in Delhi, was asked how the economic crisis would affect South Asian and Thailand. “The global crisis affects all countries through it originated in the US… In our countries the banks are relatively well regulated and the capital credit ration is adequate. So, there is no danger to the health of the financial sector in our countries,” he said.

But he clarified that because of the slowdown, exports from developing countries will go down. Banks as well as international lending bodies will be reluctant to lend money to developing countries. Like UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, Singh too was concerned that if the flow of resources from developed countries slows down, the millennium development goals would be hit. “Our message to G-20 is to ensure that the process of development is not affected by the crisis,” the prime minister said.

Accompanying Singh are finance minister P Chidambaram, deputy chairman of the planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and secretary economic affairs Ashok Chawla.