PM Modi during the Extraordinary Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit (Twitter)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called upon the governments of G-20 countries to device a concrete action plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic, while addressing the Extraordinary Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit.
Expressing concern over the “alarming social and economic cost of the pandemic,” PM Modi highlighted in front of other leaders that 90 per cent of the coronavirus cases and 88 per cent of the deaths were in G-20 countries, which he said contributed 80 per cent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and were home to 60 per cent of the global population. The excerpts of PM Modi’s address were released in a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The Prime Minister also stressed on the need to put human beings at “the centre of global prosperity and cooperation,” also appealing to his counterparts to be transparent in sharing benefits of medical research and development, as per the MEA press release.
During his address, the PM also called for strengthening of global institutions such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and work collectively towards reducing economic hardships due to the pandemic, the MEA said.
The Prime Minister also expressed his gratitude to the King of Saudi Arabia for convening the extraordinary virtual summit, in order to “discuss the challenges posed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and to forge a global coordinated response.”
During the summit, the G-20 leaders pledged a collective sum of $5 trillion into the global economy towards help fighting the economic downsides of the novel coronavirus. Global supply chains have been massively disrupted and many industries affected as many governments have announced lockdowns to check the spread of the coronavirus, reported to have originated in China.
"We are injecting over $5 trillion into the global economy, as part of targeted fiscal policy, economic measures, and guarantee schemes to counteract the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic," a joint statement at the conclusion of the summit said.
Significantly, the leaders refrained from discussing the origin of the virus during the virtual conference, as per statements issued by the various governments as well as the G-20 group.
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