India is looking to create its own Davos for bigger global role

India is contemplating organizing an annual global investors’ meet in the country, akin to the World Economic Forum in the alpine resort of Davos, to carve out a bigger global role for itself.

The move will help create a niche for Asia’s third-biggest economy within the international financial system, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her budget speech on Friday. China - India’s geopolitical and economic rival -- already has its own version of such a summit, known as the Boao Forum for Asia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who made his Davos debut last year, has used this tack before as the chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat before becoming the nation’s prime minister in 2014. The biennial Vibrant Gujarat summit, which was followed by other Indian states, helped raise Modi’s profile.

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