November 10, 2010 9:16 PM

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G-20 to discuss development agenda first time: Montek

Planning Commission Dy. Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said that the development agenda being introduced for the first time in Seoul G-20 Summit must be vigorously pursued.Briefing the media in the South korean capital, Mr. Ahluwalia said, coordination of national policies is key to manage the global economy. He said, Development Agenda alongwith Mutual Assisstance Process are the two new themes of the current Summit beginning tomorrow evening.Mr Ahluwalia, who is also India's Sherpa at the summit also pitched strongly for massive investments in infrastructure sectors in the developing world. On the question of fiscal deficit, which is going to be a hot topic in the summit, he said, India is not only a well managed economy but it is also absorbing flows in order to flow investments. Mr Ahluwalia said, 3 percent deficit is perfectly all right as India is adding to demand by running deficits, as it is not a mercantilist power. He said, a lot of investment is going to flow into India as industrialised world is not going to grow at the rate beyond two percent as comapred to India's Nine percent.Mr Ahluwalia, however cautioned that India must learn to manage the massive funds flow by presenting effective models in the fields like infrastructure. He said, the country is expecting around 55 billion dollars of flow and even at 75 billion, there will be no problem for India in coming years.Earlier, the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh arrived in Seoul this evening to participate in the G-20 Summit. He was given a warm welcome at the airport including a guard of honour. In a statement before his departure from New Delhi, Dr Singh againg cautioned against protectionist sentiments and called for an open, stable and rule-based international economic development. He said, India would actively strive to strike the right balance between global commitments and national interests of countries.Dr Singh underlined that this was the second G20 Summit this year – and the first both in Asia and outside a G8 country. He said, this reflects the high expectations the world has from the G20 in moving beyond the immediate crisis faced in 2008 to ensuring a sustained and balanced economic recovery in the long term.AIR correspondent Salman Haider covering the Summit reports that the Seoul Summit will focus on the G20 framework for strong sustainable and balanced growth, including an ambitious outcome in the form of the Seoul Action Plan.

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