Despite high growth, India, China will remain in Bank focus, says Zoellick

According to him, although India and China are considered to be ‘middle income powers’, there should not be too much ‘responsibility’ for them to fund other developing nations, as they have a high percentage of poverty to deal with domestically. “I don’t want to overstate India’s responsibility in terms of financing others,” he said.

Zoellick also emphasised the importance of India on issues of global climate change. “If we’re going to deal with issues like energy and climate change, India and China are critical. While these countries would want to continue to rely on traditional sources of energy to push their development, other forms of energy and low carbon development should also be promoted so that some traditional resources get freed up,” he said.

Referring to the Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation negotiations, Zoellick said big global trade negotiations would help India by opening opportunities for those farmers who would move away from the agriculture sector. He also said there were ‘large benefits’ for developing countries as well as the US if agricultural subsidies could be reduced.

Zoellick also said there was possibility for more funds to come into India through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development as well as International Finance Corporation (IFC). He added that on his visit to Mumbai over the past few days, the city had asked for funds to the extent of $5-6 billion over a 10-year period, for which there was a ‘distinct possibility’ that the bank would provide assistance.

Cautioning against the major constraints that the country is facing and likely to continue to face over the next several years, Zoellick said, “Infrastructure will continue to be a problem. We are trying to promote PPPs through the IFC and through concessionary support. Skills are another area of concern. We will also continue to work with states that have not had the same level of growth as others in the country.”