In a first, Modi to address Kautilya Conclave

Ruchika Chitravanshi/Business Standard 

Prime Minister Narendra D Modi is scheduled to address the Kautilya Economic Conclave being held from October 4 to 6, according to people in the know.

This will be the first time the prime minister will attend the event, which has been organised by the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) annually for the past three years.

The conclave will be inaugurated by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on October 4. Later in the evening, Modi is expected to address a gathering of eminent economists, representatives of multilateral development banks, among others.

The theme of last years summit, held in the backdrop of geopolitical tensions, including the Russia-Ukraine war, was 'Navigating a World on Fire'. In its first edition, the subject of the Conclave was 'Redefining the Destiny'.

Conceived and sponsored by the ministry of finance, the conclave started in July 2022, at a time when the world was emerging from two years of lockdown following the COVID-19 pandemic. It provided intellectuals from across the world a platform to interact and deliberate on macroeconomic issues and challenges.

As IEG puts it, 'The world was just opening up after two years of being locked down by an unseen pathogen of unknown origin. People were looking forward to travelling and connecting with others. Intellectuals need that as much as others, if not more. Without a vibrant exchange of views, there is no intellectual growth.'

Some of the international economists who have attended the event in the past include Anne Krueger, senior researcher of International Economics at Johns Hopkins University, Nick Stern, economics professor at the London School of Economics, and Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, London.