Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left Saturday to attend a nuclear security summit in Washington, which he said he hoped would focus on nuclear terrorism and the security of sensitive nuclear materials and technologies. In a statement issued on the eve of his departure, Singh said nuclear terrorism and proliferation of sensitive technologies were legitimate concerns that required firm responses. Singh said India had been a consistent advocate of complete and universal global nuclear disarmament and would continue to call for more meaningful progress in that direction. During his visit to Washington, Singh was scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with US President Barack Obama, who was hosting the summit, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and other leaders, the statement said. From the US, Singh was scheduled to travel to Brazil for the fourth IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) summit and the second BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) summit, the statement said. "These groupings reflect the growing role of emerging economies in shaping the global economic order," Singh was quoted as saying by the German Press Agency "DPA". He said the BRIC countries were among the largest and fastest growing economies in the world and they had a high stake in the revival of the global economy as well as an open trading system, energy security and combating climate change. In Brasilia, Singh is expected to hold separate bilateral meetings with Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
