New Delhi: With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will not be attending the two-day G-15 Summit in Venezuela from February 27 and has instead deputed External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha to represent the country.

The Prime Minister has written to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias that he will not be able to participate due to domestic commitments and the election process being underway in this country.

Vajpayee assured Frias that India will continue to give its fullest cooperation in its efforts to give the 19-member G-15 grouping a more dynamic profile in the articulation of concerns of developing countries.

Sinha will leave for Caracas early on February 25, the day when permanent representatives of Heads of State and Government will meet there, External Affairs Ministry spokesman told reporters in New Delhi today (Feb 23, 2004).

He will attend the meeting of Foreign Ministers on February 26 and will represent India at the Summit, which has as its main theme 'Energy and development'.

This Summit was to have been held in Venezuela in October, 2002 but had to be cancelled due to internal problems.

Leaders at the Summit will consider the report of the Foreign Ministers as also exchange views on the current international situation with special emphasis on energy and development, the spokesman said.

The G-15 leaders are likely to adopt a joint communiqué at the end of the Summit.

India is a founder member of the grouping, which was essentially conceived as an economic forum designed to foster South-South cooperation. G-15 has taken up cooperative projects in diverse areas like food production, population, energy, geological research, family planning, telecom, gene banks, solar energy and information technology.

Algeria will take over from Venezuela as chairman after the current summit. G-15 has been effective in establishing a structured North-South dialogue.

At the last G-15 Summit held in Jakarta, it was decided to set up a G-15 Commission of nine countries, including India, to coordinate efforts of the grouping.

Besides India, the grouping comprises Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Iran and Columbia.