- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Ajay Banga, former chief executive of Mastercard and the US nominee to lead the World Bank, was set to arrive in India on Thursday (23) to meet prime minister Narendra Modi, external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Indian-born Banga’s visit to India will conclude his “global listening tour” where he spoke to representatives of donor nations and borrowers to gather support and discuss issues related to the World Bank, India Today reported.
The 63-year-old Banga, who will be in India for two days, will discuss India’s development priorities with the three top leaders, besides global economic development challenges, the US treasury said.
The Modi government endorsed Banga’s candidacy for the top job soon after his nomination was announced last month.
A number of nations have already extended their support for the US nominee, including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Bangladesh, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and others.
While the process for nominations for the chief of the World Bank’s post will continue till March 29, Banga has no competitor at the moment, reported Reuters.
Banga currently is the vice chair of General Atlantic, an American private equity firm. He stepped down from the top post of Mastercard in December 2021 after serving for 12 years.
US president Joe Biden nominated Banga to replace David Malpass, who resigned in February, months after triggering a controversy over his failure to confirm whether he acknowledged that fossil fuel was driving the climate crisis.
