India may have a seat around the high table at the G-20 summit at

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Pittsburgh beginning on Thursday, but it is destined to remain on the margins during the talks.

The US, the summit host, China, Germany and Japan are to likely to dominate the discussions that are expected to be focused mainly on president Barack Obama’s call to ‘re-balance the world economic order’, guaranteed to accentuate the slugfest between the world’s largest economy and others.

At the summit, the third in a year, the informal grouping of major developed and emerging economies is expected to announce new measures for the quick revival of the global economy.

India, China, Brazil, Russia and other emerging economies want a larger say in running world affairs but they may be sidestepped as the US pursues a defensive and protective position on imports from its top trading partners, China, Germany and Japan.

President Barack Obama and his key aide on G-20, Michael Froman, have articulated a new postulation that changes the focus of

the summit. The postulation is centred on the suggestion that all three trading partners

of the US must rely more on domestic consumption rather than aggressive

export of goods and services to the American market.

After having pushed the ‘Buy American’ slogan to revive the US economy, Obama’s latest move will have an impact not only on its three large trading partners but also on economies like Mexico and Canada. Mexico’s president Felipe Calderon and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper have already warned of the adverse effects of the new US line.

China may again press for an alternative world reserve currency to replace the dollar. India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh and the deputy chairman of the planning commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, have articulated their opposition to protectionist tendencies in the US and Europe. Both will attend the summit. Nicholas Sarkozy of France and Angela Merkel of Germany support BRIC efforts to clamp down on vague and over-leveraged derivative products that did the US markets in.

The Pittsburgh meeting will also review the implementation of measures announced at the last two summits in Washington and London,

where it was decided to pump $1.1 trillion into efforts to revive emerging market economies.

Both Germany and France may push for a plan for carbon emission reduction and climate control, though G-20 is not seen as the negotiating forum for this. A vertical divide on technology transfers and funding for this $ 60 billion effort over three years is likely to give anxious moments to the summiteers at Pittsburgh.

BRIC nations have taken the position that climate change negotiations are best left to the UN framework at Copenhagen in December this year. However, advanced economies, which are

to take a greater burden of reduction in carbon emissions and higher investments in technological innovations, want a deal done at G-20.

The basic groundwork for the Pittsburgh summit was done at the meeting of the G-20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs on September 4-5 in London where they decided to work towards achieving high, stable and sustainable growth.

India expects to use the Pittsburgh opportunity

to press for changes in the international financial architecture by reforming the way institutions like IMF and World Bank are run.

Obama is on record that his administration is open to working with G-20 leaders to strengthen norms governing financial markets. But, US market participants are wary of international regulation. “We cannot allow the thirst for reckless schemes that produce quick profits and fat executive bonuses to override the security of our entire financial system and leave taxpayers on the hook for cleaning up the mess,” Obama said ahead of the summit.