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India is likely to get the vice-president's post in the China-backed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in which India and 56 countries have been admitted as founding members.
Chief negotiators of the countries would hold a key meeting next week to begin consultations to finalise the format of the AIIB's functioning, including voting share.
The memorandum of understanding of the bank to be headquartered in Beijing specifies that the authorised capital will be $100 billion with an initial subscribed capital of $50 billion.
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Chances of India getting the post are high as the vote share is expected to be based 50 per cent on gross domestic product and 50 per cent on purchasing power parity with primacy for the Asian countries, as the bank aims to fund infrastructure projects mainly in the region, officials told PTI.
Under these guidelines, India figured next to China and is expected to take the lead role, they said. India has already been designated to head the BRICS, (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Development Bank to be headquartered in Shanghai. It will have a starting capital of $50 billion.
Beside AIIB and BRICS Bank, China has announced a $40-billion special fund for its Silk Road projects, to develop a wide network of highways, railway and ports in Asia and Africa. The overall format of AIIB is expected to be finalised after a series of meetings.
Chinese officials stated that the bank will draw best practices from the IMF, World Bank and ADB but will avoid domination of few countries setting rules for the international financial system.
As a new multilateral institution focusing exclusively on infrastructure development, the AIIB will be dominated by developing countries, and their requests and demands need to be respected, China's vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao said.
The establishment of the AIIB is an attempt to help fill Asia's infrastructure investment gap and promote economic development in the region, he has been quoted by the official media here as saying.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimated in 2009 that Asia needs about USD 8 trillion investment by 2020 to improve the region's battered infrastructure to keep its economies humming.
