The Group of Eight industrialised nations are considering opening doors of the elite club to include more states, including India and China, to reflect the growing importance of the two Asian economic giants.
 
There is "certainly a case for including countries like China and India," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at the end of the G-8 summit held in Sea Island, Georgia, on Thursday.

"We have already begun the process of outreach and I'm sure that will continue," he was quoted as saying by British  newspapers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said India and  China's participation in the G-8 Conference would make much sense.

"India and China are huge countries, whose potential  is growing energetically and intensively," he was quoted by Russian news agency Itar-Tass as saying.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had said on the first day of talks that the leaders were considering inviting China and India into the G-8 fold.

Berlusconi said the leaders had discussed the strength of the Chinese economy and the fact that it is not constrained by the sort of labour laws that exist in the West.

"But we said that we shouldn't be afraid of China because it is a huge consumer market and the idea was put forward to call China and India to joint the G-8, making it the G-9 or G-10," he added.

The focus of the G-8 meeting which ended on Thursday was the US-led broader Middle East initiative to foster democracy in the region.

This year, leaders of Arab states, including the  interim Iraqi President Ayad Allawi, attended the meeting to discuss policies in the Middle East.
 
A group of dignitaries from African states also joined  the group for talks on issues such as fight against AIDS, poverty and trade.