Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has left for South Korea to attend G-20 summit. In his departure statement the Prime Minister said that protectionist sentiment must be resisted for a strong, sustainable and balanced growth of world economy. Dr. Manmohan Singh said that an open, stable and rule- based international economic environment in areas of trade, investment flows and technology transfer is in the interest of all including India. He said New Delhi will work with others to encourage G-20 to focus on the development agenda which is being introduced for the first time in Seoul. He said there are developmental imbalances within and between countries and re-balancing of world economy is a major challenge. Dr. Singh also pitched for leveraging global imbalances to bridge the infrastructure gap between the rich and poor nations. He said this summit is second in this year and reflects the high expectations the world has from G-20 in moving beyond the immediate crisis the world faced in 2008. He said the nations must guard against complacency in the pursuit of strong financial regulatory framework and effective supervisions. Referring to the recent G-20 finance ministers meet in Korean city, Dr. Singh said, the forthcoming summit must build upon the process of IMF reform including protection of voting share of the poorest. Our correspondent accompanying the Prime Minister reports that this is the first G-20 summit outside G-8 countries and the first in Asia.