Government has decided to appoint NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya as the Sherpa for G-20 talks, replacing Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. As per the practice, the Deputy Chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission used to be the Sherpa for G-20 talks. During the a decade long UPA regime, former Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia was the sherpa for G-20 talks.
Panagriya will start the work on his new role once he returned from the USA. The next G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled on November 15-16 at Antalya in Turkey in November.
Arvind Panagariya
- Arvind Panagariya is an Indian-American economist and Professor of Economics at Columbia University and an ex-Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank.
- He has also worked for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and the UNCTAD.
- On Jan 5, 2015, he was appointed as Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog (or National Institution for Transforming India Aayog), which is the replacement of Planning Commission
- India: The Emerging Giant – Book penned by Panagariya.
Who is a Sherpa?
A sherpa is the personal representative of a head of state or government who prepares an international summit, particularly the annual G8 or G20 Summit. The name is derived from the Sherpa people, a Nepalese ethnic group, who serve as guides and porters in the Himalayas.
