By IANS,
New Delhi : India’s Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will leave for Beijing Sunday to participate in a meeting of senior officials of the Group of Five (G-5) countries.
The G-5 includes India, China, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. They are known as the “outreach countries” and are invited when the world’s richest and most developed countries, the G-8, meet. They are also the fastest developing economies in the world.
The meeting in Beijing slated for April 21-22 will focus on the likely approach the G-5 must adopt for discussing climate change and global warming with the members of the rich world.
The next meeting of the G-8 will be hosted by Japan where members of the “outreach countries” are scheduled to participate. Climate change and global warming issues will be among the priority agenda of the G-8 meeting in July.
Since Menon will be visiting China soon after India managed the smooth passage of the Olympic torch relay in New Delhi Thursday, the Chinese leadership might take the opportunity to thank the Indian government through him.
He may also hold talks with Chinese officials on issues that could be taken up by the two sides when External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee visits Beijing in June.