New Delhi: India is poised to make a strong presence at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting in Davos with Union Ministers, Chief Ministers of various states and over 100 CEOs of leading corporates winging their way to the Swiss Alpine resort for the global gathering from January 19-23.
India has convincingly retained its tag as the fastest growing major economy in the world and the political and business leadership will be making a strong pitch to attract global investments.
The Union ministers who will be present at the economic brainstorming sessions in Davos, include Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics and IT; Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development; Pralhad Joshi, Minister of Renewable Energy and K Rammohan Naidu, Minister of Civil Aviation.
The chief ministers who will be at the WEF meet to woo investments for their states include Devendra Fadnavis of Maharashtra, N Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana’s A Revanth Reddy, Madhya Pradesh’s Mohan Yadav and Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren and Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma.
This year’s Forum kicks off with the theme ‘Spirit of Dialogue’ amid global economic uncertainties triggered by the US tariff turmoil and mounting geopolitical uncertainties.
All eyes will be on US President Donald Trump who will make his presence felt with the largest US delegation ever seen at the WEF, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump has already taken European leaders by surprise by threatening to slap punitive tariffs on NATO allies, if they fail to support his plan to annex Greenland. EU ambassadors were holding emergency talks on Sunday, just as the WEF kicks off.
According to the WEF’s ‘Global Risks Report 202’6, geoeconomic confrontation is now the top near-term risk, overtaking armed conflict and environmental threats. Around 50 per cent of respondents expect a turbulent global environment during 2026–28.
The 56th edition of WEF in Davos-Klosters will bring together nearly 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries, including 400 top political leaders and 850 CEOs. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada; Emmanuel Macron, President of France; Friedrich Merz, Federal Chancellor of Germany; Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; He Lifeng, Vice-Premier of the People’s Republic of China; Javier Milei, President of Argentina; Prabowo Subianto, President of Indonesia; and Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, are among the heads of state who will participate at the WEF.
Top AI leaders such as Jensen Huang, Satya Nadella, Demis Hassabis, and Dario Amodei, among others, will also be present.
(IANS)
