Protectionism very dangerous: India to G8 countries

Protectionism is very dangerous and you must not return to it, was the blunt message to the G8 countries from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leaders of the other fastest developing countries.

Just ahead of the joint summit of the G8-G5 leaders, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had made it clear that the G5 would make a strong pitch for open markets as the answer to the global economic meltdown.

At the summit, the G5 leaders also said that the rich countries must involve the developing world in finding a solution to the financial crisis.

Climate change was also on top of the G8-G5 agenda. President Barack Obama has said that the G8 has come to a historical consensus on cutting carbon emissions. They would work towards 80 per cent cuts by 2050.

However, the G8 failed to persuade developing countries to accept targets of cutting emissions by 50 per cent by the same date. President Barack Obama said the global recession made it harder to strike an international agreement to battle dangerous temperature increases. But he urged the emerging economies that rejected specific clean-energy goals to "fight the temptation toward cynicism."