India's Passport to Global Leadership

There is a new opportunity for India to build a global forum in Asia but for the world

- BY TARUN DAS

THE STORY OF India and Davos has seven parts to it: the Opening, the Opportunity, the Objectives and Strategy, the Institutional Partnership, the Challenges, the India Team and finally, the New Opportunity.

The Opening: The connect to CII (AIEI) in 1984 came from Rahul Bajaj, an early participant at Davos.

The introduction to the World Economic Forum (WEF) that he made, and then monitored the progress, was the beginning of all that followed. From 1985 to 2025 there was a 40-year collaboration between WEF and CII, unique in the world.

The Opportunity: Slight signs of opening of the Indian economy were visible in the mid-'80s, but it seemed like an opportunity for CII to expand its reach to the world through WEF, having already built its international work through trade fairs, industry missions and overseas offices, and try to bring the world to India to support its growth. Only a few believed, then, that WEF could be a window for India, but the risk was taken. In retrospect, it was a good risk to take for India, the Indian economy and industry.

The Objectives and Strategy: The early objectives were to build interest in India, build its image, relationships, confidence and investments. These never changed.

A dual strategy was followed.