World Bank President Ajay Banga. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, and World Bank President Ajay Banga could be seen sharing a light moment on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Monday (Nov 19). In a video posted on Mr Macron’s official X account, the French president is seen greeting PM Modi with a hug and exchanging pleasantries as Mr Banga chimes in with his oneliner, evoking laughter from two of the most powerful leaders of the planet.

In the clip, Mr Banga approaches the duo before turning to PM Modi and saying: “He [Macron] is going from one Indian to another”, evoking laughter from the two leaders. “He’s always there,” PM Modi could be heard replying.

Meanwhile, President Macron captioned the post as saying: “It is always a pleasure to meet with Prime Minister @NarendraModi, as our partnership with India is both rich and multifaced. We reviewed the progress on the initiatives launched during my State visit last January, as well as key international issues.”

It is always a pleasure to meet with Prime Minister @NarendraModi, as our partnership with India is both rich and multifaced.

We reviewed the progress on the initiatives launched during my State visit last January, as well as key international issues. pic.twitter.com/WSatqfqout

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 19, 2024

Who is Mr Banga?

Mr Banga is an Indian-born American business executive who has been serving as the chief of the World Bank since last year. Previously, he acted as the executive chairman of Mastercard from July 2010 to December 2020, holding president and CEO titles in between.

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Bilateral meeting

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed ways to increase cooperation in space, energy, and AI. PM Modi also took to social media and congratulated Mr Macron for the successful hosting of the Olympics and Paralympics earlier this year.

“It is always a matter of immense joy to meet my friend, President Emmanuel Macron. Complimented him on the successful hosting of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics earlier this year,” PM Modi posted on X.

“We talked about how India and France will keep working closely in sectors like space, energy, AI, and other such futuristic areas. Our nations will also work closely to enhance people-to-people linkages.”

It is always a matter of immense joy to meet my friend, President Emmanuel Macron. Complimented him on the successful hosting of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics earlier this year. We talked about how India and France will keep working closely in sectors like space, energy, AI… pic.twitter.com/6aNxRtG8yP

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 18, 2024

Apart from Mr Macron, PM Modi also bet Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and UK PM Keir Starmer on the sidelines in Rio. 

Washington:

India’s growth rate is the shiniest part in the global economy, World Bank president Ajay Banga said on Thursday, noting that a lot of this is driven by the domestic market.

“There is no doubt that India’s growth rate is among the shiniest parts in the world economy. I think being able to grow at six, seven per cent and more in this kind of environment shows you that they’ve done a number of things to get there,” Banga told reporters ahead of next week’s annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

“A lot of that growth is in India, is driven by the domestic market as well, which actually is a healthy sign, in some ways. What India needs to work on as the prime minister laid out is things on quality of life, like air and the quality of water and the like,” he said.

“We are actively engaged with them on a number of topics to do with these, and I think we will see more results of those coming out in the coming months in terms of projects,” Banga said in response to a question.

World Bank Managing Director for Operations Anna Bjerde said the bank is supporting the government turning the growth into jobs and also sustainable development.

She underscored the need to increase female workforce participation as India has a huge potential to increase the level of participation by women.

The World Bank is also working with India on the urban development side as there’s so much potential to make cities much more livable whether it comes to air quality, water supply or urban planning. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The World Bank’s chief economist warned Wednesday that interest rate hikes could spell trouble for countries struggling to deal with debt.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Banks and others have raised rates and warned that they could remain high longer than expected in order to bring down elevated inflation.

The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that the world economy remains resilient despite the fallout from Covid, the war in Ukraine and a cost-of-living crisis, but that it was “limping along, not sprinting.”

“In spite of all of these shocks, we have not seen any big economies really get into trouble. But the good news basically ends there,” said World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill.

“The trouble now is that because of the high rates, the high interest rates that you mentioned, growth is slowing down a lot,” he said at a news conference during the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Mr. Gill recalled that during another long period of high interest rates, in the 1970s, around 24 economies were left bankrupt.

“We should expect this tightening cycle to also take long,” he said. “We should expect some countries to (get) into trouble.”

World Bank President Ajay Banga said there was “no doubt” that inflation has begun to come down but that rates will stay higher for longer.

“That can be a complicated event in many ways for investments as well as to people who over the years have got used to a low interest rate environment,” Mr. Banga said.