G-8 Summit: Doubts, challenges and the possibilities

G-8 was once considered the most elite gathering of the world's most industrialised eight nations -- the United States of America, Britain, Canada, Russia, France, Italy, Germany and Japan.

G-8 doesn't have any headquarters but it provides a platform to rich nations to deliberate on the problems of the world and its solutions.

Although G-8 was started by France in 1975, time has hit them hard at the turn of the century.

This time, the heads of G-8 are meeting in L'Aquila, a mountainous town of Italy, situated 120 km from Rome.

To make the deliberations realistic and relevant, almost 40 countries will be present there. Many other international organisations have been invited as well.

G-5, that consists of India, China, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, has a buzz around them. G-5 plus Egypt have been invited for a special session this time; G-8 knows well that the future belongs to them.

"G-8 countries are worried and playing diplomacy in such way that ultimately the power to lead the world remains with them. They are worried about the future when real economic powers will form and strengthen new groupings that will knock out G-8," said a senior diplomat in the ministry of external affairs.

Host nation Italy's economy in 2008 has touched negative growth rate, so realism has dawned on rich nations to listen to the developing ones, count on them for advice and factor in their demands when the solution is negotiated.

Development, climate change, trade, energy, economy or food security are issues which have compelled the G-8 to expand their table and accommodate more views.

For the first time, G-8 will issue a statement along with the G-5 countries.

Apparently, economy, the Iran crisis, climate change and development will be the issues to get more attention at the G-8 summit.

It's no surprise that German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the German parliament last week, 'We are seeing that the world is growing together and the problems we face cannot be solved by the industrialised countries alone.'

She favours a G-20 which also includes China, India and Indonesia among other nations. She said, "I think the G-20 should be a format that, like an overarching roof, determines the future."

It's not only Merkel who is asking for a bigger format, even the anti-globalisation group and activists against rich market economies are now avoiding protests against G-8 summits.

Nobody fears G-8. Rather, experts are keener to assess the coming G-20 gathering in Pittsburgh, the US, on September 24 and 25. It's largely believed that G-20 is better equipped to tackle the current global crisis.

M K Rasgotra, former foreign secretary also thinks that it's time to look beyond G-8.

He told rediff.com, "G-8 is not relevant today. They have outdated economies. They are leaving behind the time with economies that are declining. There are new countries that are coming up on the world stage."

"China, India, Brazil and other developing countries are the rising stars. The old system has to be scrapped," he added.

So is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wasting his time for full four days, leaving behind the ongoing budget session of Parliament?

Of course not, says Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon. When asked about G-8's declining influence, he gave an elaborate reply.

"Frankly, these are matters of forum, and for us what really matters is which is the forum which is best equipped to actually deliver results. When we will be looking at the financial crisis and its consequences, clearly the G-20 is probably the best place to do that, and I think both the Washington Summit and the London Summit have shown an ability to deal with the financial issues -- whether it is in terms of restructuring financial organisations or strengthening financial regulations, whichever way you look at it -- that is the right place."

He said the G-8 plus G-5 Outreach Summits have a different function. They have a much broader discussion base and a more informal discussion of global issues.

Menon said, "In Italy, it is not only the economic crisis that is an issue, in fact one of the major issues is development. Development policies and how we look at the global economy going forward are larger issues which I think they will discuss."

"I don't think it is so much a question of saying this forum is more relevant than the other. The world is more complicated than any single forum, I think, so you need to pick and choose and decide which forum works for the world. But, the basic crux of it, from our point of view, as internationalist by conviction, is that these are global problems. They need global solutions. No single country can fix these kinds of problems -- food security, energy security, environment -- these are not issues that anyone can do on their own. So you need forum like these, where you have an informal discussion between the leaders, where they can actually talk to each other frankly and understand what their interests, what are the possibilities and what can be done," Menon added.

Dr Singh is likely to meet US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Summit, but the details are yet to be finalised.