The leading developing countries which have been invited to attend the summit meeting of the G-8 and Outreach countries at the German resort town of Heiligendamm will strive to adopt an aggressive common position to engage the G-8 developed countries on the burning issue of global warming.
The leaders of the five Outreach countries of India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico will meet in Berlin on Thursday for consultations amongst themselves ahead of their Friday’s Summit meeting with the G-8 countries.
As he left for Berlin this morning, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said that the Outreach countries would press for acceptance of the widely-accepted position of “common but differentiated” responsibility and respective capabilities between developed and developing countries to tackle the issue of climate change.
In a departure statement, the Prime Minister said while fighting the problem of climate change was imperative, it should not be at the cost of stunting the process of development in developing countries.
Germany, currently chairing the G-8 and host of the three-day Summit meeting, has identified climate protection, energy efficiency and the conclusion of the Doha round of talks as the focus themes of the Summit discussions. While addressing all these issues, due care must be taken not to allow growth and development prospects in the developing world to be undermined or constrained, the Prime Minister said.
Tackle issues
It was a fact that the best way to tackles the issues was more and not less development for the developing countries, he added.
The Prime Minister is expected to push for adoption of a common position by the five Outreach countries at their Summit meeting in Berlin on Thursday. India is of the view that the primary responsibility for containing the global warming phenomenon rested with developed countries whose carbon dioxide emission levels were high.
India accounted for only 4 per cent of the total global emission and in per capita terms it would negligible, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said in his media briefing Tuesday. Even in terms of energy consumption per unit of GDP, India’s record compared favourably with most energy efficient countries such as Germany, he said.
PM IN BERLIN
Berlin, pti: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived here on Wednesday on a four-day visit to Germany to attend the Summit of the Group of Eight (G-8) developed countries.
Besides the G-8 meet being held at the Baltic sea resort at Heiiligendam, the Prime Minister will also attend the Summit of five Outreach countries from the developing world — Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa.
Singh is leading a high-power delegation that includes National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshanker Menon.
He is to due to have a brief meeting with US President George W Bush during which the issue of civil nuclear deal will come up.
Though no big announcement is expected at this meeting, the two sides would be looking for a political push at the highest level to break the logjam in the talks over 123 agreement that is required for operationalising the civil nuclear deal.
On the sidelines of the Summit, Singh will also meet Chinese President Hu Jintao. The two leaders will review the bilateral relations and assess progress on implementation of the 10-point strategy identified for boosting relations during Hu’s visit here in November last.
He will also meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders from Mexico, Nigeria as also UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.