Washington: The United States will continue to cooperate with India to make its G20 presidency a success, and commends India’s leadership on the issue of reform of multilateral development banks (MDBs) as well as the debt crises, Treasury secretary Janet Yellen told finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.
During a bilateral meeting in Washington DC, on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Yellen also reaffirmed American support for Ajay Banga as the nominee for the World Bank president and pointed to his Indian roots. Banga is the sole nominee for the job and is expected to take over later this summer.
For her part, according to a set of tweets put out by the ministry of finance, Sitharaman appreciated the multifaceted India-US partnership and called for further cooperation in addressing global economic challenges, including the climate crisis. She also highlighted the role of G20, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in fostering this partnership.
The FM also “emphasised the importance of coordinated global action to address #DebtVulnerability in low and middle-income countries”, besides the need for financial support to help developing economies achieve their climate goals”, said the finance ministry.
In her opening remarks, Yellen recalled her visit to “one of the most dynamic economies in the world” — she had travelled to India in February for the G20 finance ministers meeting.
Yellen also said that the evolution of MDBs was a top priority of hers — the World Bank is undergoing a process to re-examine its mission, operational model and financial mobilisation practices — and sought G20’s help. “The G20 can bring strong political momentum to bear to make sure that the multilateral development banks accelerate their work on 21st century global challenges as part of their effort to end extreme poverty and expand shared prosperity.”
The treasury secretary also praised Banga as having the right leadership and management skills, background and financial expertise to lead the Bank. “And, of course, Ajay was born and spent much of his career in India. He has a keen understanding of the economic opportunities present in developing countries that will serve him well if he’s selected.”
While expressing America’s support for India’s efforts to improve debt restructuring process — India will co-chair a global sovereign debt roundtable meeting with the Bank and IMF later this week — Yellen also lauded India’s efforts to transition to renewable energy and said that the US stands ready to provide support in achieving the target of 500 gigawatts of non-fossil generation capacity by 2030.
Separately, Sitharaman addressed two major investor meets — she spoke on investment opportunities in the long term and India’s rise at a joint US India Business Council-Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) event at the US chamber of commerce on Monday, and on investing in the India decade at a US-India Strategic Partnership Forum-FICCI event on Tuesday.
Sitharaman pointed out that India had not just sustained but deepened its reforms in the past few years despite the multiple crises affecting the world. Describing the government’s digitisation push, infrastructure spending, plans to set up centres of excellence in artificial intelligence, progress on the GIFT city in Gandhinagar; the focus on supply chain diversification and logistics; and the fusion of capitalism and democracy with a strong government in charge as providing ideal conditions, Sitharaman invited American businesses to India.
In closed-door interactions, she also heard from industry representatives with interests in India about their experiences, success and issues of concern.
