Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman held a meeting with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) delegation in New Delhi today. The delegation consisted of 11 officials of AIIB’s Board Directors visiting India for the Board group visit.

Appreciating the AIIB for its remarkable growth over the past nine years, the Minister underlined India’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals and its demonstrated leadership in creating and harnessing the power of digital public infrastructure.

Mrs Sitharaman stated that AIIB should broaden its investment in priority sectors of climate adaptation and resilience, infrastructure development, energy security, and urban development and extend support for India’s next-generation reforms. She also stressed the importance of continually incorporating finance plus and budget plus elements in AIIB’s project design and implementation.

The Union Finance Minister is also the Governor of the AIIB Board. Our correspondent reports that the key purpose of the AIIB Board visit to India is to provide the Board of Directors with a holistic insight into the AIIB’s ongoing and planned investments in its member countries.