Power games that the big boys play

With India vying for a place on the global high table, its representatives in Bretton Woods Institutions must recognise these are institutions of international governance and not just partners for economic development

- Manjeev Puri

The 2025 World Economic Outlook of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) listed India as the fourth-largest economy in the world with a GDP of $4.187 trillion, pushing Japan to the fifth place. And the World Bank's 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief notes that India has achieved record poverty reduction with the share of those living in extreme poverty (under $2.15 per day) having fallen from 16.2% in 2011-12 to just 2.3% in 2022-23.

Such affirmation should normally have meant only khushi (happiness) with the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs). But, it has been kabhi khushi, kabhi gham (sometimes happiness, sometimes sorrow) principally because of their largesse towards Pakistan, overlooking its role in fomenting and spreading terror in India and globally.

Added to this, there has been the termination of the services of our executive director (ED) at IMF at the very moment that matters pertaining to a bailout for Pakistan were coming up. There are allegations he misused his position to get several State-owned banks to buy a book of his in extraordinarily large quantities. There are also reports of his having fallen foul of internal protocols at IMF related to handling of insider information and work methods. The Fund's ethics committee was likely to act, leaving the government with little option other than avoiding the ignominy of its ED facing strictures on ethical issues.