Amitabh Kant, former CEO of NITI Aayog, to serve as new G-20 Sherpa

The government has decided to appoint former NITI Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant as India’s Sherpa for the G20 grouping. Kant will replace commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, who offered to shed this role due to his mounting workload. Later this year, India will preside over the G-20. It should be highlighted that the nation requires a full-time G-20 Sherpa, which Goyal is unlikely to provide as he already holds a number of cabinet positions.

The Sherpa would need to dedicate a lot of time to several meetings that will be held in various regions of the country because India will hold the G-20 presidency this year. According to the source, Union Minister Piyush Goyal is responsible for a number of ministries in the Modi government, which takes up a lot of his time. The Minister is also charged with additional urgent tasks, much like the Rajya Sabha Leader.

Goyal has served as the nation’s G-20 Sherpa since September 7, 2021. For about six years, Kant led the top Indian government think tank for public policy; his extended term concluded last month. Currently, Parameswaran Iyer serves as the CEO of Niti Aayog. Goyal is a member of the cabinet and is responsible for a number of ministries, including those of commerce and industry, consumer affairs, and food and public distribution.

The G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) will get underway in Bali. The gathering will be viewed as a strategic forum to talk about international recovery initiatives. Ministers will debate enhancing multilateralism in the first session, while the food and energy crises will be tackled in the second session.