India to host AIIB's 3rd annual meeting in 2018

Jeju Island, South Korea, June 16: India will host the third annual meeting of the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in 2018, the bank said on Friday.

According to the AIIB press release, the third annual meeting of the AIIB's board of governors will be held in Mumbai, India, in June 2018. India is AIIB's second-largest shareholder, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We appreciate the strong support provided by the Indian government," said Sir Danny Alexander, vice president and corporate secretary at the AIIB.

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley noted that his country would be honored to become the host country for the third AIIB annual meeting.

The first annual meeting was held in Beijing last year. The second meeting, which would last for two days through Saturday, was launched in South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju.

Officially launched in January 2016, the Beijing-based AIIB is a multilateral development bank initiated by China and supported by a wide range of countries and regions, which will provide financing for infrastructure improvement in Asia.