Finance minister Sitharaman urges ADB to stop funding terror-backer Pakistan

New Delhi, May 5: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday made a strong pitch to ADB to stop giving funds to Pakistan as it backs and supports terror activities, sources said.
During her bilateral meeting with ADB President Masato Kanda in Milan, Italy, Sitharaman urged the multilateral funding agency to put a check on funding to Pakistan, the sources said.
India has been asking global multilateral agencies, including the IMF, to have a relook at funds and loans provided to Pakistan, as New Delhi seeks to corner the neighbouring state diplomatically and at various international forums following the dastardly terror attack in Pahalgam last month, which killed 26 tourists.
Authorities have identified five terrorists — including three Pakistani nationals — behind the massacre in Pahalgam.
As of December 31, 2024, ADB has committed 764 public sector loans, grants, and technical assistance totalling USD 43.4 billion to Pakistan. ADB’s current sovereign portfolio in Pakistan includes 53 loans and 3 grants worth USD 9.13 billion.
According to sources, Sitharaman made similar pitch during her bilateral meeting with Italian Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti. Italy is the chair of 58th ADB Annual meeting.
During the bilateral meeting with ADB president, Sitharaman reiterated that India focuses on private sector-led economic growth and has been consistently creating a conducive policy and regulatory ecosystem through bold initiatives such as the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and GST implementation, Production-Linked Incentives, among others, for greater Ease of Doing Business, the finance ministry later said in a post on X.
Sitharaman emphasised that India offers opportunities for ADB to pilot new, innovative financing products and models, it said.
Kanda expressed ADB’s full support to India’s development priorities, guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, it said. (PTI)

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