Reports on FM Sitharaman asking ADB to cut funding for Pakistan 'untrue': Centre

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) Posts circulating on social media alleging that India asked the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to cut funding for Pakistan are “baseless and untrue”, the government said on Monday.

Reports earlier claimed that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a meeting with ADB President Masato Kanda, demanded that the bank cut funding for Pakistan.

However, a Finance Ministry clarification said that reports claiming that FM Sitharaman had discussed any Pakistan-related issues with Kanda were "baseless and untrue."

Later, PIB Fact Check on X also said that this claim is "completely fake and India has not made any such request.”

“Beware! Trust only official government sources for credible Information,” said the PIB Fact Check post on X.

ADB President Kanda, in his meeting with Union Finance Minister, expressed the Bank’s full support to India’s development priorities, guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

FM Sitharaman also reiterated that India focuses on private sector-led economic growth and has been consistently creating a conducive policy and regulatory ecosystem.

"The Union Finance Minister 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, Corporate Tax Rate Reduction and GST implementation, Production-Linked Incentives, National Infrastructure Pipeline, GatiShakti National Master Plan and Startup India, among others, for greater Ease of Doing Business," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

Sitharaman also emphasised that India offers opportunities for ADB to pilot new, innovative financing products and models.

"Kanda expressed ADB‘s full support to India’s development priorities, guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047," the ministry added.

FM Sitharaman also met her Italian counterpart Giancarlo Giorgetti, on the sidelines of the 58th ADB Annual Meeting, and explored ways to strengthen India-Italy economic ties and enhance cooperation in global and multilateral platforms on issues of mutual interest.

--IANS

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