M A I N   N E W S

PM leaves for Mexico, Brazil; says Eurozone crisis may affect India
Ashok Tuteja
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 16
Ahead of his week-long tour of Mexico and Brazil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today expressed concern over the continuing Eurozone economic crisis, underlining that the problems in Europe had the potential to adversely impact India's own economic growth.

“It is our hope that European leaders will take resolute action to resolve the financial problems facing them,” he said in a statement before his departure as the head of a high-level Indian delegation to attend the G-20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Noting that the G-20 leaders would be meeting in the shadow of the economic crisis in Eurozone and a faltering global economy, the PM said the situation in Europe was of particular concern to India as the continent accounted for a significant share of the global economy and was also India’s major trade and investment partner.

The other issue of immediate concern was the need to revive global growth, he said, adding it was imperative that the G-20 countries work in coordination to implement policies that promote sustained growth.

“India has been pursuing this objective in its capacity as the Co-Chair of the Working Group on the ‘Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth’. I will stress on the need to ensure primacy of the development dimension in G-20 deliberations and the need to focus on investment in infrastructure as a means of stimulating global growth.”

Manmohan Singh observed that BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries have been the new growth poles of the global economy. At the fourth BRICS summit in New Delhi in March, BRICS leaders agreed to work with the international community to ensure international policy coordination to maintain macroeconomic stability conducive to the healthy recovery of the global economy.

As current Chair of BRICS, India, he said, would host an informal meeting of BRICS leaders prior to the commencement of the G-20 Summit to exchange views on the agenda of the summit.

On the Rio meet, he said “We have come a long way since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. Environmental concerns today occupy the centre-stage of global discourse. Yet, we are far from pursuing a truly sustainable path towards development. The UN Conference on Sustainable Development is an historic opportunity to give meaningful content to the paradigm of sustainable development.”

The PM said the Rio+20 Conference was likely to debate complex and contentious issues such as green economy and sustainable development goals. “I will emphasise that we must not dilute the cardinal principles of Rio 1992, particularly the principle of common, but differentiated responsibilities as well as equity, which have been at the core of global sustainable development efforts.

“We must acknowledge the continuing differences in levels of development across the world and the need for provision of financial and technological support to the developing world if we are to work together as a global community to address our most pressing environmental challenges. India will work with like-minded countries to forge a consensus in this endeavour.”

what the pm says

the schedule