 Deshmukh was a member of a five-member delegation representing India at the Bretton Woods Conference that established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).On the issue of quotas, Deshmukh suggested that India walk out of the conference since the original hierarchy would have excluded India from being automatically represented through an executive director at the IMF.The delegation also succeeded in bringing the issues of poverty and development into the agenda of the IBRD.