• Source:JND

New Delhi: Indian-American President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among the leaders named to the 'Board of Peace' for Gaza redevelopment under President Donald Trump's comprehensive plan to end the conflict.

The White House on Friday released a list of appointed members to the founding Executive Board of the Board of Peace, which it said comprises leaders with "experience across diplomacy, development, infrastructure, and economic strategy".

Who is Ajay Banga?

Born in Maharashta's Pune in 1959 in the Army family, Banga is the first Indian-American to be named to head the global financial institution in 2023. His father was lieutenant-general in the Indian Armed Forces. Banga, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2016, most recently served as vice chairman at General Atlantic. Previously, he was president and CEO of Mastercard, a global organisation with nearly 24,000 employees.

Banga, whose anceastral village belongs to Punjab's Jalandhar, did his education in India. He is the first-ever Indian-American and Sikh-American to head either of the two top international financial institutions: the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

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Raised in India, Banga was the honorary chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, serving as chairman from 2020-2022. He was also chairman of Exor and independent director at Temasek. He became an advisor to General Atlantic's climate-focused fund, BeyondNetZero, at its inception in 2021.

He previously served on the Boards of the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods and Dow Inc. He was a member of the Trilateral Commission, a founding trustee of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, a former member of the National Committee on US-China Relations, and Chairman Emeritus of the American India Foundation.

Banga is a co-founder of The Cyber Readiness Institute, Vice Chair of the Economic Club of New York and served as a member of President Barack Obama's Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. He is a past member of the US President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

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He was awarded the Foreign Policy Association Medal in 2012, the Ellis Island Medal of Honour and the Business Council for International Understanding's Global Leadership Award in 2019, and the Distinguished Friends of Singapore Public Service Star in 2021.

Role of Banga in Gaza peace plan

Besides Banga and Rubio, the Executive Board includes US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, former UK prime minister Tony Blair, private equity firm Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan and US Deputy National Security Advisor Robert Gabriel.

“Each Executive Board member will oversee a defined portfolio critical to Gaza's stabilisation and long-term success, including, but not limited to, governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilisation,” the White House said. It added that additional Executive Board and Gaza Executive Board members will be announced in the coming weeks.

(With inputs from agency)


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