PM returns home after attending IBSA Summit in South Africa

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight returned home after a three-day visit to South Africa where he attended the India-Brazil-South Africa ( IBSA) Summit that voiced concern over the global economic and political turmoil.

Singh, who left the capital on Monday for Pretoria, held bilateral talks with South African President Jacob Zuma and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during his stay there and discussed ways to enhance all-round relations, particularly in trade.

Addressing the 5th Summit of the bloc, Singh, joined by Zuma and Russell, cautioned that economic crisis in developed countries could affect developing nations and pressed for urgent steps by Europe and other advanced economies to prevent "double-dip" recession.

They also sought reform of global institutions of governance, including UN and financial bodies, to address current international challenges.

Singh said the world financial and capital markets were showing signs of "acute distress" due to the negative signals sent by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and recessionary trends in the "traditional engines" of global economy -- the US, Europe and Japan.