G-8 and global order

The three-day summit meeting of the group of eight developed countries (G-8) during 9-11 July, 2009 at the Italian city of L’Aquila has once again brought to the fore their age-old unsympathetic, non-conforming and unjustified attitude towards the poor and the developing world. Leaders of some important developing countries including India’s Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh who were invited as non-member guests were not at all happy with the outcome of the summit, since the G-8 members not only failed to see reasons on the issues of nuclear non-proliferation treaty and global warming, but also now appear to be half-hearted on their earlier commitment to compensation against climatic change in the form of food security to the poorest countries of the world. What is more to be added here is that the G-8 leaders also do not seem to compromise with the changed political and economic world order by accepting representation of the emerging nations like India in the international fora such as G-8 and United Nations Security Council through their expansion. The whole world admits that in the current global situation of economic crisis, it is looking forward to the role of emerging nations like India and China which could help reviving the world economy from its recessionary instability even though the crisis was generated in the developed countries due to unrestained temptation of their financial institutions to get richer and richer at the quickest possible time.

In this context, India has taught the developed world that it should desist from the principle of unrestricted free market mechanism in preference to a mixed economy and that the government should have control over the reckless functioning of industries. The United States and the UK have already assumed stakes in the areas of their financial sector while the European Union is following suit. It would be utterly unjustified on the part of developed countries to deny the participatory constructive role of India in formulating the functional structure of top international fora like World Bank, International Monetary Fund, UNSC or the like of expanded G-8. Dr Manmohan Singh’s bold statement that the current participatory composition of the UNSC is less than appropriate representation calling upon G-8 countries to be more inclusive with respect to these international fora is praiseworthy. Another uncomfortable aspect of the G-8 summit which has baffled India is that the former has vowed to curb transfer of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology and equipment to countries which are not signatories to Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), thereby affecting India eventhough New Delhi received clean and full waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for civil nuclear co-operation with the world despite being a non-signatory to NPT. Therefore, G-8 should promptly exclude India from its unjustified provision and should also decide to expand G-8 group to include the emerging nations like India, China, Brazil and South Africa as members. SOURCE: ASSAM TRIBUNE