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Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank: India could be Vice-President

News

  • India is likely to get the Vice-President’s post in China-backed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in which India and 56 countries have been admitted as founding members.
  • Chances of India getting the Vice President’s post are high as the vote share is expected to be based on 50 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 50 per cent Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) with primacy to be given to the Asian countries as the bank primarily aims to fund infrastructure projects mainly in the Asian region

Founding members

  • China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam,  Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Maldives, New Zealand, Jordan, Tajikistan, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Britain, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain.

Expert Analysis

Business Standard: The author is the head of research and Geoeconomics Fellow at Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, Mumbai. 

  • Imagine China’s clout within India if AIIB owns or manages India-located projects such as the Bangladesh-China-Myanmar-India corridor, and the many internal industrial corridors that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has planned with foreign funding.
  • The opportunity for India then, is to influence and partner both AIIB and the nascent BRICS bank on favourable terms. Infrastructure is the focus of BRICS bank too, but so is sustainable development.
  • Developing countries, including India, can seek financing for climate change technologies, environment protection, affordable drugs and other technology-based public service delivery solutions.
  • This will leverage India’s IT prowess and Brazil’s sustainable development experience. The first president of the BRICS bank from India should set this course.
  • India is at a critical juncture. It is one of the largest recipients of WB aid, loans that can be cannibalised as these new institutions emerge, so it must capitalise on its early placement in the new multilateral financial architecture.
  • Else, as the experience with the United Nations Security Council, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation shows, a missed opportunity in the beginning will take years to make up – if ever.

 

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