By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS,
London : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had a quiet but “powerful” presence at the Group of 20 (G20) summit of world leaders Thursday, British Secretary of State for Business Lord Peter Mandelson said.
“He has such a presence, and he is so widely respected,” Mandelson told IANS.
“He is quiet and understated, which makes him all the more powerful,” the British minister added.
Mandelson, a strong advocate of the role of India and other emerging economies in the global economy, said emerging economies have been the “main winners” at the summit.
“They are the main winners in terms of resources and the international financial institutions (IFI),” he said.
Mandelson has described India and China as the “drivers of global growth” as countries around the world try to devise coordinated strategies to combat the global financial crisis.
India, Brazil, China and Russia were the main representatives of developing countries at the summit and argued for them to be given a much larger role in running the affairs of the International Monetary Fund, a key IFI whose resources are used to help out countries in financial difficulty.