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IBSA to collaborate on tackling global crisis

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

Hands of friendship: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) and South African President Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe on the concluding day of the 3rd Summit of the IBSA Dialogue Forum in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA), three of the world’s leading developing countries, on Wednesday agreed to collaborate closely on some of the crisis confronting international community and underlined the need to make structures of global governance more democratic and representative.

At the conclusion of the Third Summit of the IBSA Dialogue Forum here on Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a joint press conference with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe of South Africa, that the leaders exchanged views on the international financial crisis and rise in energy and food prices.

“We agreed on some ideas to tackle them and to collaborate closely as the international community grapples to find satisfactory solutions,” Dr. Singh said disclosing they decided to instruct their Finance Ministers and Governors of Central Banks to convene a meeting in order to establish a coordination mechanism” Dr. Singh said.

Noting that the New Delhi Summit completes the first cycle of IBSA annual summit, Dr. Singh said the forum has covered considerable distance since its inception in 2003. He said IBSA already has Working Groups on Energy and on Agriculture and these bodies would carry forward the discussions the leaders had on Wednesday . India has circulated a paper on possibilities in cooperation in Agriculture within IBSA and there are suggestions how to deal with food security. Dr. Singh said the Summit discussed the role of clean energy in dealing with energy needs and thanked the Presidents of Brazil and South Africa for their support in opening up civil nuclear cooperation for India.

Stating that trade and investment linkages among the three countries were growing, he said the current crisis affecting the international economy has made it much more important “for us to explore one another’s market for mutually beneficial opportunities.”

The leaders agreed to set a trilateral trade target of U.S. $ 25 billion by 2015 stating that they expect to achieve the 2010 target of $15 billion. For this, they agreed to instruct appropriate financial authorities in each country to explore new mechanisms to facilitate and increase trade.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Singh emphasised on a renewed effort to reform institutes of international governance be it the United Nations or the G-8 and need to work purposefully towards the conclusion of the Doha round of trade talks promoting development and inclusive growth.

The leaders also adopted 50-point Delhi Summit Declaration expressing views on issues of global governance and regional issues. Expressing satisfaction at the outcome of this Summit, the leaders said they look forward to be held in Brazil on October 8, next year.

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