By Murali Krishnan, IANS,
Beijing : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived here Thursday to attend the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit after wrapping up his three-day visit to Japan.
India is participating in the ASEM meet for the first time after being inducted along with Pakistan, among other countries, into the grouping.
This will also be the first multilateral meeting that Manmohan Singh will be attending after the inking of India’s historic civilian nuclear pacts with the US and France.
The decision to induct India was taken at the last ASEM summit at Helsinki in 2006.
With ASEM comprising some of the heavyweight economies of the world, the global financial crisis will be one of the major talking points during the meeting of the leaders at the conclave.
A slew of bilateral meetings has also been arranged on the sidelines of the ASEM summit.