India, 56 members join as founding members of China-led AIIB

India and many influential western nations are among the 57 founding members of the USD 50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), while the US and Japan stayed away from the China-backed multilateral lender, according to the final list of members released today.
Though the deadline for founding membership application has expired, the bank will continue to accept new members, as the AIIB is an open and inclusive multilateral development bank, China's Vice Finance Minister Shi Yaobin said.
Backing the Chinese initiative, India was one of the first countries to have signed up for the bank expected to offer stiff competition to other financial institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The 57 prospective founding members cover five regions, including Asia, Oceania, Europe, Latin America and Africa, Shi said.
The AIIB is the first Asian bank to have a new banking system that is independent of the dominance of founding member-states of the international Bretton Woods system.
Countries that have been accepted as founding members of the AIIB include China, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Maldives, Britain, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain.
The US and Japan have abstained from joining the AIIB, but expressed their cooperation.
Although Taiwan was rejected as a founding member of the AIIB, Ma Xiaotian, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a press conference today that the mainland would consider "constructive opinions from all sides" regarding Taiwan's identity as a member, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.