India has initiated discussions on appointment of the president of the proposed BRICS development bank.
“The thought process on appointing the first president of the BRICS Bank has begun. The government is considering two options — we can either set up a search committee or advertise for the post,” said a source familiar with the development.
He however, said that a search committee may be the more likely route taken. “It usually makes more sense to set up a search committee as advertising for such a high profile post may not bring the desired candidates,” he further said, adding that a final call on the process will be taken by the Union Cabinet.
The five-nation bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa had agreed at the Sixth BRICS Summit in Brazil that the New Development Bank would be set up with its headquarters in China with India getting the right to nominate the president.
The proposed bank with a $50 billion capital structure is expected to be an alternative to other multi-lateral agencies and will be focussed on development agenda in the BRICS countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had at the BRICS leaders’ summit (on the sidelines of the G20 Summit) in Brisbane earlier this month suggested that the bank should be inaugurated by 2016.
The decisions on the location of the headquarters as well as the appointment of the president and vice-president of the bank will be taken up when finance ministers of BRICS countries meet for the seventh summit in Russia in July 2015.
The Chinese government is understood to have shortlisted some locations in Shanghai that could serve as the headquarters for the bank.
“We will start work on the appointment soon. The ratification of the bank by member countries is still in process and has got slightly delayed because of the new government formation in Brazil,” the source said.
Once the ratification is done by all five member countries, the board of directors of the bank will be appointed with each member nominating one director.
India will then designate the president, who will be formally ratified by the member nations and then appointed.
SEARCH COMMITTEE TO TAKE SHAPE
* The government is considering two options — setting up a search committee or advertising for the post
* According to a source, the search committee would be the preferred option as advertising may not bring in the desired candidate
* The BRICS nations had agreed at the Sixth BRICS Summit that the New Development Bank would be headquartered in China with India getting the right to nominate its president
