SPEECHES / STATEMENTS 

PM’s statement at the IBSA Summit Joint Press Conference

October 15, 2008, New Delhi

“We have just concluded the Third Summit of the IBSA Dialogue Forum. We have had very friendly and constructive discussions. I thank President Lula of Brazil and President Motlanthe of South Africa for their guidance and for their contribution in making the Summit a huge success.

This Summit completes the first cycle of IBSA annual summits. Our unique forum has covered a considerable distance since we established it. Our cooperative programmes are beginning to take effect. The process of coordinating on international issues of importance and of assisting other countries in the South has also taken roots.

We exchanged views in depth on some of the crises that confront the international community today, that is, the international financial crisis and the rise in energy and food prices. We agreed on some ideas to tackle them and to collaborate closely as the international community grapples to find satisfactory solutions. To this end, we have decided to instruct our Finance Ministers and Governors of Central Banks to convene a meeting, as soon as possible, in order to establish a coordinating mechanism.

We already have Working Groups on Energy and on Agriculture and these bodies would carry forward our discussions on these subjects.

India has circulated a paper on possibilities in cooperation in agriculture within IBSA and there are suggestions there on how to deal with food security.

We discussed the role of clean energy in dealing with our energy needs. I thanked the Presidents of Brazil and South Africa for their support in opening up civil nuclear cooperation for India.

Trade and investment linkages among our three countries are growing. The current crisis affecting the international economy has made it that much more important for us to explore one another’s markets for mutually beneficial opportunities.

It is our expectation that the target of US$ 15 billion by 2010 would be achieved. We have accordingly agreed to set a target for trilateral trade of US$ 25 billion by 2015. For this purpose, we have agreed to instruct our appropriate financial authorities to explore new mechanisms to facilitate and increase trade amongst us. Our trade negotiators should address the negotiation of the India-MERCOSUR-SACU trade arrangement in a time bound manner.

Inadequate connectivity, in particular air connectivity, continues to impede greater trade and investment linkages. The Business Summit has discussed some proposals and we will examine them expeditiously.

We are currently in the phase of consolidation of the IBSA Forum and of propagating its benefits within our three countries. In this context we agreed on the importance of greater association and participation of civil society in our activities.

We are, therefore, pleased that the academic, business, editors and women’s forums met just prior to our Summit and made very useful suggestions for further strengthening collaboration among our three countries. We look forward to expanding the coverage of the forums to include our Parliamentarians in the near future.

Overall, I am fully satisfied with the outcome of our Summit. We look forward to the fourth summit to be held in Brazil in early October, 2009”.