Berlin, June 8: Sending a strong message to the industrialized nations on the issue of climate change, the G-5, including India, on Thursday night made it clear that there can be no compromise on the issue of development as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted that developing countries should be treated as “partners and not petitioners”.
Speaking in one voice ahead of their meeting with leaders of G-8 countries, India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico agreed to coordinate in chalking out common strategies.
“Developing countries must be treated as partners and not petitioners in the changing global scenario,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh emphasised at the meeting where all agreed that South-South cooperation should be intensified. This is not any “pressure” group, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon explained to reporters on being asked whether the five countries would use their clout to pressurise the G-8.
Singh, joined by Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders. The leaders agreed that “primacy” has to be given to development in developing countries, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters.
Capabilities of the five countries, which account for 42 per cent of the world population, have grown immensely, the leaders contended. It was decided that senior officials of the G-5 nations would stay in regular touch and suggest ways to coordinate on issue of common interest, Menon said.
