Civil society groups in India have asked prime minister Manmohan Singh to highlight development issues and tackling global povert at the G20 summit which starts on Thursday in Seoul.

“The development of a strong development agenda in Seoul would require India to champion the interests of developing countries, which could easily be forgotten if the G20 leaders focus only on the interests of the countries they represent,” Nisha Agarwal, CEO of the Oxfam India told Governance Now.

Before leaving for Seoul, PM said in a statement that India will take a lead role at the summit. "As the Indian economy moves to a higher growth path, and opens to the world, our stake in a stable, inclusive and representative global economic and financial system will only grow," Singh said.

"There are developmental imbalances within and between countries, and rebalancing of the world economy is a major challenge," he added.

“When India talks of this issue, need for strong, sustained and balanced growth, it is essentially representing the emerging economies, it is speaking as the voice of one of the leading emerging economies in the G20,” foreign secretary Nirupma Rao said in the press briefing on Tuesday.

In its recent report Oxfam said, “The Seoul Summit must commit the G20 to a long-term development agenda that puts the interests of the poorest people and countries at the centre of its work.”

The report also urged G20 countries to ‘commit toward sustainable growth that reduces inequity and recognises that equitable growth and reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are mutually reinforcing objectives.’

Last week during a conference on ‘India’s role in the G20 summit’ organised by Oxfam in New Delhi, different speakers pointed out how G20 is going off-track from the key issue of development. “G20 has not responded to the current financial crisis and consensus among the countries has collapsed,” Prof. Jayati Ghosh, of JNU said.

“The countries are still harping on export led growth even after facing such a severe financial crisis,” Ghosh added.

The theme of the two-day summit in Seoul is “Shared Growth beyond the Crisis”. The G20 was formed in 1999 but was elevated to a summit-level forum in 2008 after the global financial crisis.

PM’s delegation includes Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman planning commission, the national security advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and senior officials. Manmohan Singh is expected to reach Seoul later this evening. He will also discuss leaders of the different countries bilaterally on the sidelines of the summit.