India readies power-packed presence at WEF before global elite
Davos (PTI): India is set for a power-packed representation at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in this Alpine resort town that will see the global elite discuss "a spirit of dialogue" in a fragmented world for five days beginning Monday.
US President Donald Trump will be the biggest star among over 3,000 global leaders from government, business, academia, multi-lateral bodies, civil society, and labour unions.
Trump is coming with his five cabinet members and the city has got a USA House for the first time in over five decades, it has hosted the annual WEF summit.
The WEF said at least 64 heads of government or state would be present, while six out of seven G-7 countries would be represented by their top leadership. China and Pakistan will also have big delegations attending the event.
Pakistan will also host for the first time a 'Sufi Night' where it will also serve 'Indus Valley' delicacies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be present, WEF President and CEO Borge Brende said at an online press conference, asserting that the five-day annual meeting beginning January 18 will have a hard look at Ukraine, Gaza and Latin America, including Venezuela.
He said a big bipartisan delegation from the US Congress and state governors would also attend the meeting, being held under a theme of "a spirit of dialogue".
President Trump will bring along the largest-ever US delegation to Davos, including at least five secretaries. Those expected include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, and also US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Brende said the world is probably facing the most complex geopolitical situation since 1945, and dialogue is not a luxury in times of uncertainty, but an urgent necessity today.
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Brende said the WEF Annual Meeting will have a historic participation of more than 3,000 world leaders from over 130 countries this year, including over 1,700 business leaders, half of whom are CEOs or chairpersons.
There would be a record number of 400 top political leaders from across the globe, including a strong Latin American presence.
The meeting will also be attended by more than 30 foreign ministers, over 60 finance ministers and central bank governors and more than 30 trade ministers.
Top political leaders taking part include Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, and Swiss President Guy Parmelin.
They also include presidents of Argentina, Indonesia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Congo, Ecuador, Finland, Mozambique, Poland, Serbia, Singapore, Israel, and Syria, alongside prime ministers of Spain, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Palestinian National Authority, and Qatar.
Close to 200 leaders from civil society and the social sector, including labour unions, non-governmental and faith-based organisations, as well as experts and heads of the world's leading universities, research institutions and think tanks, will also participate in the meeting.
From India, at least four Union ministers -- Ashwini Vaishnaw, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Pralhad Joshi, and K Rammohan Naidu -- as well as six chief ministers are expected to be there, along with over 100 top CEOs from the country.
The chief ministers are Devendra Fadnavis of Maharashtra, N Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh, Assam's Himanta Biswa Sarma, Madhya Pradesh's Mohan Yadav, Telangana's A Revanth Reddy, and Jharkhand's Hemant Soren.
While Reddy is from Congress, Soren from Congress ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Naidu from Telugu Desam Party (an ally of the BJP), the other three CMs are from the BJP.
Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar (from Congress) was also expected to be there, but has dropped out due to his engagements back home.
Among Union ministers, Naidu is from TDP, while the other four are from BJP.
Besides, Gujarat's Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Rameshbhai Sanghavi (from BJP) and high-level delegations from Uttar Pradesh and Kerala will also visit Davos.
Indian leaders are expected to participate in several panel discussions, including one on 'Can India become the third largest economy in the world' during the summit.
Business leaders from India expected include Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani, Tata group's N Chandrasekaran, Bajaj Group's Sanjiv Bajaj, Jubilant Bhartia Group's Hari S Bhartia, TVS Motor's Sudarshan Venu and Mahindra Group's Anish Shah.
Other Indian corporate leaders expected to be there are Axis Bank's Amitabh Chaudhry, Godrej Industries Group's Nadir Godrej, JSW Group's Sajjan Jindal, Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath, Bharti group's Sunil Bharti Mittal, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Infosys CEO Salik S Parekh, Wipro's Rishad Premji, Essar CEO Prashant Ruia, Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma and ReNew CEO Sumant Sinha.
Former Union minister Smriti Zubin Irani will also be there as founder and chairperson of Alliance for Global Good: Gender Equity and Equality, which was founded a few years ago in Davos itself.
Global leaders attending the summit include United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, World Bank President Ajay S Banga, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UNESCO Director General Khaled el-Enany, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
From Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will also be there.
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No confusion in BJP-JD(S) alliance: Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru (PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday dismissed speculation over confusion in the BJP-JD(S) alliance, asserting that there was clarity within them and that discussions on the chief minister post were premature.
Addressing reporters at the party's state office, JP Bhavan, after chairing a preparatory meeting for the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections, he said the immediate priority was to remove what he termed an "anti-people government" in the state and to strengthen the alliance to face upcoming polls.
"This is not the time to discuss who should become the chief minister. There is still time for that. If we speak about it now, it would be like stitching the cradle even before the baby is born," Kumaraswamy said, underlining that leadership questions would be taken up at an appropriate time.
The JD(S) second-in-command said there is still a lot of work to be done and it was not appropriate to speak about such matters now.
"On the issue of alliance, both I and our party are open-minded. When the time comes, we will discuss it on the party platform and take a decision. There is no confusion regarding the alliance, and there will be no confusion in the future. This is my stand," Kumaraswamy said.
"There is a bad government in the state. My objective is to remove it and bring in a pro-people government. Removing this corrupt and bad government is my agenda. The JD(S) and BJP parties will work together to accomplish this task," he added.
Reiterating his stand, Kumaraswamy said, "My objective is to remove the anti-people government in the state. I have been saying this from the beginning."
On reports of internal differences over the alliance and the CM's position, the union minister said he would not respond to every statement made by individuals.
"Some people are speaking about the alliance and the chief minister's position. I do not feel the need to respond to them. If I start answering each of them, people may think I lack maturity. Therefore, I will not speak about it. We will strengthen the alliance together, face the elections together, and bring a pro-people government," he said.
Kumaraswamy added that discussions within parties were natural and not final.
He said there were still two years left for the Assembly elections while there were four to five months left for the local body elections.
The union minister said the JD(S) is also preparing for the municipal elections in Bengaluru city just as other parties.
He clarified that there had been no discussions so far between the two parties specifically on local body or GBA elections.
Earlier, the JD(S) leader chaired a meeting with Members of the Legislative Council, former MLAs and other leaders of his party to review preparations for the GBA elections.
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