India is set for a power-packed representation at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in this Alpine resort town that will see the global elite discuss “a spirit of dialogue” in a fragmented world for five days beginning on Monday (January 19, 2026).
U.S. President Donald Trump will be the biggest star among over 3,000 global leaders from government, business, academia, multi-lateral bodies, civil society, and labour unions.
President Trump will bring along the largest-ever U.S. delegation to Davos, including at least five secretaries. Those expected include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, and also US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
The meeting will also be attended by more than 30 Foreign Ministers, over 60 Finance Ministers and central bank governors and more than 30 Trade Ministers.
Top political leaders taking part include Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, and Swiss President Guy Parmelin.
Close to 200 leaders from civil society and the social sector, including labour unions, non-governmental and faith-based organisations, as well as experts and heads of the world’s leading universities, research institutions and think tanks, will also participate in the meeting.
From India, at least four Union Ministers— Ashwini Vaishnaw, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Pralhad Joshi, and K Rammohan Naidu — as well as six Chief Ministers are expected to be there, along with over 100 top CEOs from the country.
The Chief Ministers are Devendra Fadnavis of Maharashtra, N Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh, Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma, Madhya Pradesh’s Mohan Yadav, Telangana’s A Revanth Reddy, and Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren.
While Mr. Reddy is from Congress, Mr. Soren from Congress ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Mr. Naidu from Telugu Desam Party (an ally of the BJP), the other three CMs are from the BJP.
Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar (from Congress) was also expected to be there, but has dropped out due to his engagements back home.
Among Union Ministers, Mr. Naidu is from TDP, while the other four are from BJP.
Besides, Gujarat’s Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Rameshbhai Sanghavi (from BJP) and high-level delegations from Uttar Pradesh and Kerala will also visit Davos.
Indian leaders are expected to participate in several panel discussions, including one on ‘Can India become the third largest economy in the world’ during the summit.
Business leaders from India expected include Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani, Tata group’s N Chandrasekaran, Bajaj Group’s Sanjiv Bajaj, Jubilant Bhartia Group’s Hari S Bhartia, TVS Motor’s Sudarshan Venu and Mahindra Group’s Anish Shah.
Other Indian corporate leaders expected to be there are Axis Bank’s Amitabh Chaudhry, Godrej Industries Group’s Nadir Godrej, JSW Group’s Sajjan Jindal, Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath, Bharti group’s Sunil Bharti Mittal, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Infosys CEO Salik S Parekh, Wipro’s Rishad Premji, Essar CEO Prashant Ruia, Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma and ReNew CEO Sumant Sinha.
Former Union Minister Smriti Zubin Irani will also be there as founder and chairperson of Alliance for Global Good: Gender Equity and Equality, which was founded a few years ago in Davos itself.
Global leaders attending the summit include United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, World Bank President Ajay S Banga, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UNESCO Director General Khaled el-Enany, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Published – January 18, 2026 11:38 am IST
