Washington: The Group of 20 rich and emerging countries including India have committed to using all the means available to tackle the financial crisis rocking world markets.

G20 members "committed to using all the economic and financial tools to assure the stability and well functioning of financial markets," a statement said after a meeting in Washington yesterday.

It said they also agreed to ensure that measures taken to ease the crisis "are closely communicated so that the action of one country does not come at the expense of others or the stability of the system as a whole."

The G20,which includes emerging giants India, Brazil, Russia and China alongside the Group of Seven industrialized nations, gathered for a special meeting called by Brazil, the group chair, and US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on the crisis.

The G20 said the members of the group "stressed their resolve to work together to improve regulation, supervision and the overall functioning of the world s financial markets." Given the global impact of the crisis, there had to be international cooperation to bring it under the control.

The G7,the US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, agreed Friday to use all means available, including ensuring that no major bank would be allowed to fail, to try and resolve the crisis.

A White House spokesman said that US President George W Bush told the G20 meeting "we re facing a crisis that began here in the US and is mostly in developed economies now, but it will affect developing countries too."

Spokesman Tony Fratto said the president argued that all countries must act together, rich and poor alike, with another meeting to be held later to ensure that there is no repeat of the crisis.

Source : PTI