A gathering of world's top political and business leaders on Thursday saw a lot of finger-pointing at the US for the current global economic ills with China and Russia taking the lead.
Amidst a sombre mood brought about by the meltdown, India sought to capitalise on the situation asking the global manufacturers to set up base in the world's second-fastest growing economy.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum for the first time, hit out at the "blind pursuit of profit" by the US firms and financial institutions saying it had led to the worst recession since the Great Depression.
"This pyramid of expectations would have collapsed sooner or later. In fact, it is happening right before our eyes," he said.
In an oblique attack on the US, Wen blamed the "inappropriate macro economic policies of some economies and prolonged low savings and high consumptions" for the current miseries.
Closely following him was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who took potshots at the free markets going overboard.
Although the crisis was simply hanging in the air, the majority strove to get their share of the pie, be it one dollar or one billion and did not want to notice the rising wave, Putin said. "I just want to remind you that just a year ago, American delegates speaking from this rostrum emphasised the US economy's fundamental stability and its cloudless prospects."
Speaking at the forum, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said global manufacturers can lessen their pain by setting up production facilities in India which offers competitive environment.
"The financial situation has eased somewhat and liquidity is accessible in the domestic market. India is still a low-cost, high-quality competitive manufacturing environment. With falling shipping rates, it may be more cost effective to set up production facilities there," Nath said at a breakfast meeting of the Boston Consulting Group at the WEF.
At a session on energy outlook, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani demanded a fair price mechanism in the international crude market for a desirable oil price of $60-80 a barrel.
"I think we can live with the price range of $60-80 a barrel. I think we need a range of $60-80, $50-70. The more important thing is how we can create the global architecture. How do we bring in more transparency, particularly in the forward market," he said.
When oil prices went up to $147 a barrel last summer, importing countries like India had blamed speculation for the runaway rise in the crude market.
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