Ahead of his departure, Singh said, “I will put forward our views on the need for greater inclusivity in the international financial system, the need to ensure that the growth prospects of the developing countries do not suffer, and the need to avoid protectionist tendencies.” Reiterating that the fundamentals of the Indian economy were strong, he expressed confidence that India had the potential to contribute to global economic growth.

An official in the Prime Minister’s Office told The Indian Express that Singh will take a “holistic and political view” of the two-day summit beginning November 14. His sherpa and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia will guide him on the ‘larger economic impact’ of the decisions resulting from the summit.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram will keep a close tab on the evolving and new global financial architecture that world leaders including French President Nicholas Sarkozy have been pushing for. Prime Minister Singh reckons that though we have a global economy of sorts it is not supported by a global polity to provide effective governance. He feels that it is time world leaders pondered over the need for a global monitoring authority to promote global supervision and cooperation.

In the Asia Europe meeting in Beijing last month, Singh said the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank must try and put in place exogenous shock facilities to provide assistance to the affected countries more quickly and in larger amounts with less service conditionalities and greater flexibility.

Earlier, in response to a question at the BIMSTEC summit joint press conference, he said, “Our message to the G-20 will be that they must do everything in their power so that the process of development particularly with regard to the implementation of MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) by developing countries is not adversely affected.”

Slowdown in developed countries would affect demand for exports, Singh said, adding “because of the financial crisis, banks and other financial institutions (in developed countries) are reluctant to lend money to the developing countries both for investment and for trade credit.”

“We are affected, though relatively less than the banking and financial sector of the developed countries,” Singh said. “Our banks are relatively well-regulated. They have adequate capital-asset ratio. Therefore, there is no danger to the health of financial system in the BIMSTEC region,” he said. with ENS