New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to give the World Economic Forum at Davos a miss this year to focus on the Union Budget, which he will present in Parliament on February 1.
The upcoming budget would be the last full-fledged one to be presented by the Modi government ahead of Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
Jaitley’s decision to skip the marque event in Switzerland, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading the largest Indian contingent of six Union ministers and top CEOs, comes exactly 10 days before the budget.
Sources close to the Finance Minister confirmed that he had arrived at the decision on Friday.
Modi would be the first Indian PM since HD Deve Gowda in 1997 to attend the World Economic Forum.
India is making its presence felt in a big way by participating in numerous sessions like readiness for the future of production, next generation industrial strategies, designing for smart mobility, game-changers with respect to Asia, India's role in the world, the future of employment in manufacturing and production along with reimagining policy-making for the fourth industrial revolution.
The Prime Minister will reach Davos on January 22 and hold bilateral meetings with Swiss counterparts during the day.
The main event begins from January 23 when Modi will address the plenary session. Last year, the plenary session was addressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
US President Donald Trump was also scheduled to attend the meet, the first US presidential visit to the summit in 18 years. The White House, however, said on Sunday that the trip was in “flux” after the government shutdown.
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