World Bank Presidency: US-nominee Ajay Banga to meet PM Modi, and others for support
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: On his global listening tour to muster support for the prestigious office of the World Bank’s Presidency, the US nominee and Indian-American Ajay Banga will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other leaders during his two-day visit to India, beginning Thursday.
Besides Modi, he will also meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the media reported.
According to a US Treasury Department statement, Banga, former MasterCard President, and CEO will also discuss India’s development priorities and global economic challenges.
He will visit the Learnet Institute of Skills, a network of vocational institutes established in collaboration with the National Skills Development Corporation, and partly funded by the World Bank.
“Banga will learn about the Institute’s program and meet with program participants, staff, alumni, and private sector partners to discuss how it is improving the lives and economic opportunities of participants – particularly young people,” the release said.
Recently, the World Bank committed USD 1 billion to India to develop public health infrastructure. It will also support the country’s flagship Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, the world’s largest healthcare scheme launched in 2018 for the benefit of nearly 500 million people.
With his India visit, Banga will round off a three-week global listening tour that began in Africa and progressed to Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
India endorsed Banga’s candidacy soon after the US announced his nomination. Since then, a diverse coalition of governments has expressed their support for Banga, including Bangladesh, Côte d’Ivoire, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom, the statement noted.
“If elected to serve, Banga will draw from his experience living and working in emerging markets and his expertise in forging public-private partnerships to mobilize investments and action to confront longstanding challenges,” the statement pointed out.
That includes his efforts at MasterCard to bring 500 million previously unbanked people into the digital economy and its support for 50 million small businesses, it added.
