Former NITI Aayog Chief and India’s G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant has resigned from the post, and begun a new journey, “after 45 years of dedicated government service”, he said in a social media post.
A retired 1980-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Kerala cadre, Amitabh Kant was appointed as India’s G20 Sherpa in July 2022, months before India assumed the G20 Presidency.
In a LinkedIn post titled ‘My New Journey’ Kant said, “After 45 years of dedicated government service, I have made the decision to embrace new opportunities and move forward in life. I am incredibly thankful to the Prime Minister of India for accepting my resignation as G20 Sherpa and for having given me the opportunity to drive a range of developmental initiatives and contribute to the growth, development, and progress of India.”
“I am grateful to all my colleagues,peers and friends for their patience, understanding, and support,” he added.
In 2023, Kant said India executed one of the most inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented, and decisive G20 presidencies ever seen in the history of the forum.
“We achieved unanimous consensus on the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, despite significant geopolitical challenges, managing to refocus the world’s attention on critical developmental priorities such as digital public infrastructure, multilateral financial reform, climate finance, and women-led development,” he said.
He said India held G20 meetings across every state and Union Territory, which contributed significantly to cooperative federalism by beautifying and upgrading cities, engaging local artists and craftsmen, and promoting local cuisines.
“We also successfully expanded the G20’s scope to include the African Union, fulfilling India’s promise and commitment to global inclusivity and collaboration with the Global South,” Kant said.