UPSC IAS - 2019

With reference to Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), consider the following statements: I. AIIB has more than 80 member nations. II. India is the largest shareholder in AIIB. III. AIIB does not have any members from outside Asia. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

Year Asked: 2019

A
1 only
B
2 and 3 only
C
1 and 3 only
D
1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer

A. 1 only

Detailed Explanation

Statement I is correct. AIIB was formally launched in January 2016 with 57 founding members and has since grown past 100 approved members. The count has kept rising, so the statement holds even today.

Statement II is wrong. China is the largest shareholder with roughly 26 per cent of voting power, and India is second with about 8 per cent. The United States is not a member, and Japan, which also stays out, is a major rival lender in Asia. China's share gives it an effective veto over special majority decisions.

Statement III is wrong. AIIB has many members from outside Asia, including the UK, Germany, France, Australia, Brazil and Canada. Its non-regional membership is a deliberate feature, meant to attract Western co-financing and governance standards.

Core concept: multilateral development banks and their governance and shareholding structure. For Mains GS-II and GS-III, AIIB is a useful case study of China-led institutions set against Bretton Woods bodies like the World Bank and ADB, and of India's position as both a shareholder and a major borrower.

Trap: Students assume AIIB is limited to Asian members because of its name, and assume India leads it because the bank comes up so often in India's context.

This question appeared in UPSC Prelims 2019 GS Paper-1.

CollectorBabu Logo

CollectorBabu: Your Trusted Guide to Ace the UPSC Journey!

Contact Information

COPYRIGHT © COLLECTOR BABU 2026. All Rights Reserved
telegram-icon