PM leaves for Seoul, cautions against protectionist sentiments

NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has cautioned against protectionist sentiments, saying that it is in India’s interest to have an “open, stable and rule-based” international economic environment in all matters including trade and investment flows. “

Dr. Singh, who left for South Korea on Wednesday to attend the G-20 Summit, in his departure statement said: ” There are 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. 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 added.

Dr. Singh said the Seoul Summit would focus on the G-20 framework for strong sustainable and balanced growth, including an ambitious outcome in the form of the Seoul Action Plan.

In the financial sector, Dr. Singh said the summit should build on the process of IMF reform on which good progress was made last month at the G-20 Finance Ministers meeting with an agreement on shifts in quota shares, including in favour of India, while protecting the vote share of the poorest.

He said the summit would also look at issues of regulatory reforms of the financial sector, and consider the new Basel-III norms.

“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,” he added.

He further said that the world economy is on the path of recovery but we should keep our focus on how to optimize global outcomes in an increasingly interdependent world.

As the Indian economy moves to a higher growth path, and opens to the world, our stake in a stable, inclusive and representative global economic and financial system will only grow,” he added.

During his three-day visit, Dr. Singh is expected to articulate India’s stand on a new architecture that can sustain balanced growth cutting across rich, emerging and poor countries.

Apart from the main event, Dr. Singh will also have a host of bilateral engagements.

Besides India, South Korea, Brazil, US and Canada, the G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, Britain, and the European Union. (ANI)