India may not back Obama

On board PM’s Aircraft
Sept. 23: India may not overtly support the US President, Mr Barack Obama’s proposal for “rebalancing the economic order” in case it rings in a protectionist regime in the US and Britain.

The cautious line to be pursued by India was evident in the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh’s statement ahead of his visit to Pittsburgh to participate in the G-20 summit. Dr Singh said, “We would like a strong message to emerge from Pittsburgh against protectionism in all its forms, whether trade in goods, services, investment or financial inflows”.

The Indian delegation headed by Dr Singh exhibited confidence ahead of the two-day G-20 summit as the country’s 6.7 per cent growth in last fiscal was mostly due to domestic consumption and not exports as in case of China. Mr Obama and his top adviser, Mr Michael Froman, have mounted a campaign during last two days against “excess reliance on exports by China, Japan and Germany.” Mr Obama had asked for re-balancing the economic and trade order.