Development must reduce disparities of income and wealth: PM

Beijing, Oct 25 (PTI) In the midst of talk of collapse of
capitalism and the current financial crisis, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said that development has to be inclusive and disparities of income and wealth should be reduced for globalisation to succeed.

Singh also lamented that global community has not lived
up to its commitments on technology transfer and additional
financing and mooted a "global action plan" to promote both
food and energy security to ensure sustainable development.

During an intervention at the Asia-Europe (A.S.E.M.)
Summit, Singh said that for globalisation to succeed it must
be fair and benefit the whole of humanity.

"Development has to be inclusive. It must reduce
disparities of income and wealth. It should create ever
widening circles of stake holders. It should respect pluralism
and diversity," he told leaders of the 45-nation grouping.

The Prime Minister also felt that there cannot be
sustainable development without peace and emphasised the need
for strengthening global cooperation to combat terrorism.

"Without peace, there can be no sustainable development.
Terrorism, extremism and intolerance threaten our social
cohesion," he said.

In the fight against terrorism, countries must bring
perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of terrorism
to justice.

Pointing to the fact that Asia is home to the largest
concentration of world's poor, he said poverty eradication at
this scale required a collaborative global effort to promote
development and in particular, to create job opportunities.

"If we fail, we will continue to live in a world of
instability and conflict," Singh, who was the first to speak
at one of the main sessions at summit", he said. PTI