IndianFinance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was Saturday elected chairman of the board of governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a year.
Mukherjee will hold the chair till the conclusion of the next board of governors' meeting, which is scheduled to be held in New Delhi May 2-5 next year.
"I deem it an honor to host the next annual meeting and chair the deliberations in our race to the shared vision for the future, a world where the lives of hundreds of millions of poor people are transformed and there is freedom from poverty, disease, illiteracy, and gender inequality," Mukherjee said in his acceptance speech.
India is a founding member of Manila-headquartered ADB, which was set up in 1966. ADB's lending operations in India commenced in 1986.