Who among the following from India, co-chaired with Mr. Atsushi Mimura, at the 2nd India – Japan Finance Dialogue held at Tokyo in September, 2024 ?
- (1)Tuhinkanta Pandey
- (2)Dammu Ravi
- (3)Ajay Seth
- (4)Vikram Misri
Answer
Why
Correct — option (3), Ajay Seth.
The Ministry of Finance's release on PIB, dated 9 September 2024, records that Mr. Atsushi Mimura, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, Japan, and Mr. Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), held the 2nd India-Japan Finance Dialogue in Tokyo on 6 September 2024.
India's side included representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India, SEBI, PFRDA, IRDAI and the International Financial Services Centres Authority. Japan's side included its Ministry of Finance and Financial Services Agency.
Both sides agreed to explore holding the next round of the Dialogue in New Delhi.
The idea to remember: 2nd India-Japan Finance Dialogue, Tokyo, 6 September 2024: DEA Secretary Ajay Seth with Vice Minister Atsushi Mimura.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Tuhinkanta Pandey — Tuhin Kanta Pandey was a senior Finance Ministry secretary, but not India's co-chair. In September 2024 he held charge of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), since 24 October 2019, and the Department of Public Enterprises, since 1 August 2024.
On 9 January 2025 he took charge as Revenue Secretary, continuing as the designated Finance Secretary.
- (2)Dammu Ravi — Dammu Ravi was Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs in 2024.
The India-Japan Finance Dialogue is a Finance Ministry track. The PIB release names the Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ajay Seth, as India's side of the co-chairmanship.
- (4)Vikram Misri — Vikram Misri took charge as India's Foreign Secretary on 15 July 2024, heading the Ministry of External Affairs' bureaucracy.
The Tokyo meeting of 6 September 2024 was a finance dialogue, not a foreign-office consultation. India's co-chair there was DEA Secretary Ajay Seth.
Concept
At its second round, the India-Japan Finance Dialogue brought the two countries' finance ministries together with financial regulators. PIB describes the Tokyo round as an exchange of views that ended with an agreement to continue discussions.
At the Tokyo round, PIB records, the two sides discussed the macroeconomic situation in both countries, cooperation in third countries, bilateral cooperation and international issues. They also discussed financial sector regulation and supervision, and financial digitalisation.
Representatives of Japan's financial services industry joined a session on financial regulatory issues, aimed at further expanding investment in India.
RPSC's 2024 syllabus lists "Persons, Places and Institutions in News" under Current Affairs. Senior civil servants who lead India's side in bilateral talks come under that line.
India's Ministry of Finance works through several departments, each with its own Secretary. The Department of Economic Affairs, headed in 2024 by Ajay Seth, deals with economic policy and international economic cooperation.
The other three names held other offices around the same time: Tuhin Kanta Pandey at DIPAM and the Department of Public Enterprises, Dammu Ravi as Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and Vikram Misri as Foreign Secretary.
India's delegation brought together the Reserve Bank of India and the regulators for securities (SEBI), pensions (PFRDA), insurance (IRDAI) and International Financial Services Centres (IFSCA).
Key facts
- The 2nd India-Japan Finance Dialogue was held in Tokyo on 6 September 2024.
- Co-chairs: Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, India, and Atsushi Mimura, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, Japan.
- India's delegation included the Ministry of Finance, RBI, SEBI, PFRDA, IRDAI and the International Financial Services Centres Authority.
- The two sides agreed to explore holding the next round of the Dialogue in New Delhi.
- Tuhin Kanta Pandey took charge as Revenue Secretary on 9 January 2025, continuing as the designated Finance Secretary.
Japan's co-chair was Atsushi Mimura, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs.
Study next
Common traps
- Picking Tuhin Kanta Pandey because he was a senior Finance Ministry secretary and the meeting was a finance dialogue. India's co-chair was the Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ajay Seth.
- Picking an External Affairs officer because the meeting was with a foreign government. Dammu Ravi and Vikram Misri were MEA officials; this was a Finance Ministry track.
- Mixing up the venues. The 2nd dialogue was held in Tokyo; New Delhi was only proposed for the next round.
A question can name a bilateral dialogue and ask who co-chaired it for India, or where it was held. A question can also ask which Indian regulators joined the delegation, or which department the Indian co-chair headed.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS compared this question with questions from other RAS Prelims papers and found none similar enough to link.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Where was the 2nd India-Japan Finance Dialogue held in September 2024?
- (a)New Delhi
- (b)Osaka
- (c)Tokyo
- (d)Mumbai
Answer(3) — PIB records that the 2nd Dialogue was held in Tokyo on 6 September 2024. Option (1) is where the two sides agreed to explore holding the next round; options (2) and (4) were not the venue. - practice — not a real PYQ
Atsushi Mimura, who co-chaired the 2nd India-Japan Finance Dialogue in September 2024, held which post?
- (a)Governor of the Bank of Japan
- (b)Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, Japan
- (c)Commissioner of Japan's Financial Services Agency
- (d)Ambassador of Japan to India
Answer(2) — PIB describes Mr. Atsushi Mimura as Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, Japan. Option (1) was Kazuo Ueda's post in 2024; options (3) and (4) are not the post PIB gives for Mimura.