G-20: World economy is in deep trouble, says PM

Setting the tone for the crucial G-20 Summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the world economy is in "deep trouble" and hoped the grouping of developed and developing countries will come up with constructive proposals to pull the world out of this crisis.

With anxiety over the global economic woes being reflected at the seventh summit of the four-year-old grouping, Singh's suggestion that the G-20 should focus on the need on investment in infrastructure as a means of stimulating global growth was significantly well received at the deliberations.

"The world is in deep trouble, I hope the G-20 will come up with constructive proposals to get the world out of this crisis," Singh told newsmen ahead of the summit at this Mexican coastal resort town, meeting against the backdrop of a faltering global economy and the burgeoning Eurozone crisis.

The economist-politician is set to take a leading role at the two-day summit of the G-20 coming up with solutions to fix the financial crisis in the 17-nation Eurozone. The G-20 accounts for 80 per cent of the global GDP.

US President Barack Obama last week in a telephone conversation with the Prime Minister said he is eagerly looking forward to meeting him at the G-20 summit and work for the successful completion of the parleys and evolve a coordinated response for the grouping to find swift solutions to the Eurozone crisis.

Singh has attended all the previous six summits of the G-20 which was launched in Washington in 2008. A possibility of a pull aside meeting between Obama and Singh here is not being ruled out by Indian officials.

Global economic woes triggered by the Eurozone crisis is threatening to affect several countries including India which has already made it clear that the European nations will have to come up with swift solutions before India is trapped in the contagion effect.