No global financial pact possible without India, says Lamy

NEW DELHI: As global leaders engage themselves to grapple with the worst economic crisis since 1929, WTO chief Pascal Lamy wants India, among other emerging economies, on board for a new financial world order.

"As policy makers go about creating multilateral architecture in areas like international finance...no international agreement on finance or climate change is possible today without China, India, Brazil and Indonesia on board...," Lamy said in a speech posted on the WTO website.

While Europe and North America face an economic slowdown, the emerging economies of Brazil, India, Mexico, China, Egypt, Indonesia and South Africa continue to grow, in large measure because of trade, he said at Stanford University on Monday.

The fast growing economies are of special interest to the US where exports are contributing significantly to GDP growth.
On an annualised basis, the second quarter export growth and slowing imports were responsible for the US' GDP growth of 2.9 per cent.

"Should growth slow in the emerging economies, US exports- the most vibrant part of the economy today- will be adversely affected. In this ever more interconnected world, prosperity in India, China, Brazil is very much in Washington's interest," said the WTO Director General.

Lamy praised India and China for using liberal economic policies to remove poverty. "Since opening their economies, the Asian giants China and India have lifted more than 400 million people from abject poverty - an economic success story without precedent," he said.

US President George Bush has convened a G-20 summit on November 15 for finding ways to deal with the economic turmoil triggered by the collapse of several US and European banks.