Abhas Jha, an Indian economist, has been appointed by the World Bank to a key position on climate change and disaster management in South Asia, the global lender said.

Jha's appointment comes at a time when Cyclone Amphan has badly hit West Bengal, Orissa in India and Bangladesh.

In his capacity as World Bank's Practice Manager for Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management for South Asia, one of the top priorities of Jha will be to encourage and help the South Asia region (SAR) Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change team to connect and collaborate across Global Practice boundaries, the bank said in a statement on Friday.

And also to the World Bank to conceive and deliver innovative and high-quality development solutions to respond to client demands and strengthen disaster risk management and climate action in the region, the statement said.

Based out of Singapore, Jha will also work closely with other Practice Managers, Global Leads and Global Solutions Groups to incubate, pilot and scale-up innovative and high-quality development solutions, and to promote the generation and flow of global knowledge to serve these countries, the bank said.

According to the bank, Jha's mandate is to nurture, lead, inspire and deploy a team of highly qualified professionals to deliver the best solutions for these countries.

Jha, an Indian national, joined the Bank in 2001 in the office of the Executive Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka and has since worked in Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, and East Asia and the Pacific regions.

His most recent assignment is Practice Manager for Urban Development and Disaster Risk Management in the East Asia and Pacific region. His area of jurisdiction includes India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Maldives.