New Delhi [India], July 19 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and World Bank president Ajay Banga on Wednesday held discussions on “India’s endeavours to empower regional connectivity” and the “concerns of the Global South.”
Indian-American Ajay Banga, who is in Gandhinagar in Gujarat to attend the third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting, met Jaishankar on Wednesday and talked about India’s endeavours to “propel larger development.”
“Delighted to meet @worldbank President Ajay Banga during his India visit. Appreciate World Bank’s support for India’s G20 Presidency. Discussed India’s endeavors to strengthen regional connectivity, promote regional prosperity and propel larger development. Also exchanged views about the concerns of the Global South,” tweeted Jaishankar after the two leaders met.
On Monday this week, Banga said that he is more optimistic today about India economically than he has been for a long time and lauded the government’s initiatives towards digitization of infrastructure.
He also referred to IMF and World Bank predictions about the world getting a little challenging for a year or so and asserted that a forecast is not destiny.
In an exclusive interview withon the sidelines of the meeting, Banga said digitisation has made it easier for people to access services and he is a “big fan” of it.
"You can't just do digitization of lending without digitizing the infrastructure. What India has done over the last 15-20 years, it is digitising the infrastructure. And that is enabling all these terrific applications to be built, which makes it easier for people to access services online. So I'm a big fan of it," he said.
“I am more optimistic today about India as a whole, economically, than I have been for a long time," he added.
Banga is the first person of Indian origin to head either the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund.
Banga, a finance and development expert, took over as World Bank President last month.
The executive directors of the World Bank selected Banga as the 14th President of the Bank for a five-year term in May this year.
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