By NNN-PTI,
Colombo : India asked SAARC, a grouping of south Asian countries including itself, to work for an effective global response to the record rally in oil and food prices, which can jeopardise development gains in the region.
“SAARC must make its voice heard in the councils of the world to ensure that there is an effective global response that protects the interests of oil consuming countries,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the 15th SAARC Summit here on Saturday.
The Prime Minister said, to become a “dynamic and responsive” body, SAARC must identify and address new challenges. “The unprecedented increase in oil and food prices risks jeopardising our developmental gains,” he said.
Singh said the Indian economy has grown by an average of 8.8 per cent in the past four years. He said Asia has become the engine of growth of the world economy and “South Asia a part of this resurgence”.
India, which imports over 70 per cent of its crude oil requirements, has been seeking a strong global response to the runaway rise in fuel prices. It suggested to the oil producing countries a price band, but found no takers for the idea.
Rising crude prices have pushed India’s oil import bill by over 50 per cent to 25.52 billion dollars for the April- June quarter of 2008-09 from 16.99 billion dollars in the corresponding period last year.