The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has denied reports in some sections of the media that said issues related to Pakistan were discussed in the meeting between ADB President Masato Kanda and Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Milan on Monday (May 5). 

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The clarification said, “The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is aware of media reports claiming that issues related to Pakistan were discussed during the bilateral meeting between ADB President Masato Kanda and Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the sidelines of the 58th ADB Annual Meeting in Milan, Italy.”

These media reports are incorrect. Issues related to Pakistan were not discussed during the bilateral meeting, it added.

Earlier, some reports had claimed that the Indian finance minister had urged ADB to slash funding to Pakistan allegedly over its continued support of cross-border terrorism. The report spread as India had already unleashed a slew of diplomatic and economic measures against Pakistan following the horrific killing of 26 unarmed civilians, mostly tourists, in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, by terrorists belonging to group which is an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

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The Asian Development Bank termed the media reports as incorrect and clarified, saying, “Issues related to Pakistan were not discussed during the bilateral meeting.”

Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of Finance also shared a PIB fact check on X stating that social media posts claiming India has urged Italy and the Asian Development Bank to cut funds for Pakistan were incorrect.