Time to bring rising powers into G8 fold
Thirty years ago, the Group of Seven summit was launched to serve as a forum for the leaders of the world's richest nations to meet and discuss common economic problems. Since then, the group's membership has grown to eight and the annual meeting has enlarged its scope to cover other major global issues, from fighting Aids and other killer diseases to stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction. This year's gathering, which begins today at Gleneagles, Scotland, will focus on African poverty and global climate change.
But just as the G8's concerns have evolved with the changing world, it is time to consider updating its membership by bringing in new, rising global powers. The most obvious candidate is China. India is another. The inclusion of either or both nations to form a G9 or G10 would not only make the world body more representative, but also allow it to tackle humanity's shared problems more effectively.
The basic premise for creating the G8 was to assemble the countries with real power to make a real difference. In the mid-1970s, this meant that a small coterie of western nations - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States - called the shots, especially on economic matters.
But today, with the economies of the world's two most populous countries growing at paces that put the original G7 countries to shame, a save-the-world summit which leaves them out risks becoming irrelevant, if not ridiculous. (Russia, which was the most recent country to join the G8, has only the 16th-largest economy in the world).
Consider global climate change. China is now the world's No 2 polluter of carbon dioxide after the United States, according to the International Energy Agency. And its demand for oil and other natural resources will only increase over time.
Witness mainland oil-and-gas giant CNOOC's bid to take over Unocal, which is partly driven by its desire to get access to the American firm's energy reserves in Central and Southeast Asia. If it could curb its insatiable appetite for energy, China (and the US) may even be able to reverse global warming.
Similarly, with its pivotal position in world trade, huge foreign investment intake and ballooning reserve of US dollars, China's co-operation is crucial to maintaining global economic stability.
The G8, to its credit, recognises all this. Both China and India have been invited to this year's summit, along with Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. Last year, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi voiced support for China's and India's membership.
The bigger question is: Do China and India want to be part of the G8? In the past, both countries have preferred to champion the cause of the developing world. But for a globalisation that benefits all, their voices are needed in international debates more than ever.
