Ajay Banga as World Bank President adds to success stories of the Indian Americans: USISPF

Washington, May 4 (PTI) Ajay Banga being confirmed as the World Bank President is another proud chapter in the success stories of the Indian-Americans, Mukesh Aghi, president of US India Strategic and Partnership Forum, has said.

Banga, 63, on Wednesday became the first-ever Indian-American, to become the President of the World Bank.

He will take over as the President of the World Bank on June 2 and succeed current President David Malpass.

Banga was one of the founding members of the USISPF and played a key role in the creation of the body representing the interests of American companies having a foothold in India and those who support a strong bilateral relationship between the two largest democracies of the world.

“This is another proud chapter in the success stories of the Indian-American diaspora, and I congratulate Ajay as he gets set to take a critical leadership role once again,” Aghi, president and CEO of USISPF told PTI.

Congratulating Banga on being selected as the 14th President of the World Bank, Aghi said US President Joe Biden and the Executive Directors of the World Bank understand that his deep expertise and several years of experience in the fields of financial inclusion, public-private partnerships, and climate finance will prove invaluable as he takes the reins in June.

“Ajay’s leadership comes at a time when the global community searches for urgent solutions to tackle climate change, work toward financial inclusion, achieve gender equality, and bridge the gap between developed and emerging markets,” Aghi said.

“As I earlier congratulated Ajay on his nomination, it is my unequivocal belief that Ajay’s deep expertise in key leadership positions at Fortune 250 companies, best positions him to take charge of the multilateral institution. His past leadership stints evince that he will be a transformative leader and provide out-of-the-box solutions,” he said.

Aghi also thanked Banga for his contribution towards the USISPF.

“Finally, I would like to thank Ajay for his role as a founding board member of USISPF. Ajay has been instrumental in our six-year success story and has helped strengthen the US-India commercial partnership to help make it the defining partnership of the 21st century,” said Aghi.