PM leaves home after attending IBSA, BRIC summits

Ajay Kaul
Brasilia, Apr 16 (PTI) Prime Minister of India
Manmohan Singh on Friday left for home wrapping up his
two-nation tour of US and Brazil during which he attended
Nuclear Security, IBSA and BRIC summits besides meeting a
number of world leaders, including US President Barack Obama.
With ash cloud from Iceland's erupting volcano
creating havoc for flights in northern Europe, Singh is taking
a detour on way back from here, avoiding Frankfurt for
stopover.
Singh's special aircraft will now have a stopover in
Johannesburg in South Africa. He will reach home on Saturday
afternoon.
During his first leg of the 8-day tour, the Prime
Minister was in the US for four days during which he attended
the Nuclear Security Summit and met Obama and asked him to
press Pakistan to rein in LeT and other terror outfits
targeting India.
The Prime Minister, who held a 50-minute meeting with
Obama on Sunday, emphasised that Pakistan needed to take
"convincing action" against those responsible for Mumbai
attacks.
During the talks, Singh also secured an assurance from
Obama for access to India to Pakistani-American terrorist
David Coleman Headley, who has confessed to plotting Mumbai
attacks.
At the Summit, Singh warned of dangers posed by
nuclear explosives falling into the hands of non-state actors
posing danger to India and other countries.
With Pakistan obviously on his mind, he pitched for
"zero tolerance" against individuals and groups which engage
in illegal trafficking of atomic explosives and announced at
the summit India's decision to set up a 'Global Centre for
Nuclear Energy Partnership'.
After the US visit, Singh arrived here on a 3-day
visit to attend the India-Brazil-South Africa and
Brazil-Russia-India-China Summits.
In Brasilia, besides attending IBSA and BRIC summits,
he held bilateral meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao
and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and discussed various
issues with them.
At the IBSA Summit, Singh pitched for greater focus on
investments in infrastructure and inclusive growth to create
new sources of growth.
He also said the grouping of leading developing
economies must speak against the protectionist policies "which
are only short-sighted and self-defeating in the long run".
At the BRIC Summit, Singh pitched for close
cooperation among the four countries in the fields of energy
and food security besides tapping potential in other sectors
like trade and investment, science and technology and
infrastructure. PTI AKK
AHM


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