Dr Singh is king at the G-20 summit

PITTSBURGH: The Indian mindset places excessive emphasis on protocol, which is often mistaken for substantive policy upgrades. Witness the preening in some quarters over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh being the first state guest at the Obama White House come November.

So when Prime Minister Singh was seated next to President Obama on more than one occasion, including at the Pittsburgh G-20 Summit, and Singh took care to mention it, it was seen as no more than another ego massage, a nice photo-op for India.

But there may be more to it than symbolism. As a former college professor and international technocrat whose doctoral thesis was on trade (specifically India���s export performance and its policy implications) Singh brings more to the table than pretty much any other leader when the discussion turns to economics, and Obama, a policy wonk, appears to have recognized that quickly.

At Pittsburgh, it was quite remarkable how much of Singh���s policy prescriptions made their its way into the final communique, an extraordinarily long one issued by the summiteers, including the none-too-subtle chastising of reckless US behaviour that had brought trouble to the rest of the world, especially developing countries, and the rising tide of protectionism.



Principal among them was the insistence that there should be no premature withdrawal of the trillion-dollar stimulus that came from the last two G20 summits and the call for a planned and orderly exit at the right time.

There were pledges to bankroll multilateral financial institutions, redistribute its representative clout to dilute rich countries dominance, and forsake protectionism, among other remedies suggested by Singh.

As the world���s principals get ready for two crucial summits relating to trade and climate change in the next few months, it is emerging that India will have an unprecedented central role in shaping the final outcome of some of the most vital negotiations in history.