Narendra Modi attends Virtual G20 Leaders' Summit 2020

The Covid-19 Pandemic forced the G20 countries to unite and convene a Virtual G20 Leaders' Summit on March 26, 2020. The main agenda was to discuss the challenges posed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and to forge a global coordinated response. PM Modi brought to notice the impact of the pandemic on the economy. However, he also highlighted the importance of human capital.

The G20 Background

The G20, or the Group of Twenty, comprising 19 countries and the European Union, is the premier forum for international economic cooperation. The G20 consists of both developed and developing countries from every continent ​, and it intends to bring their leaders together.
More importantly, the G20 group shares 80 per cent of world GDP, and the world's 60 per cent population resides in G20 countries.

The 19 countries include India, Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the UK and the US.
This year the G20 Summit is scheduled to be held between 21–22 November 2020 in the Saudi Arabian capital city of Riyadh.

G20 on Covid-19 – March 26, 2020  

Amid the Covid-19 crisis, the G20 leaders interacted via video conferencing on Thursday. All the leaders were united and pledged to stop the spread of the Coronavirus by implementing and funding health measures that are needed.

The G20 leaders seemed very much concerned and discussed the ways to deal with the pandemic which has already taken lives of over 21,000 people.
To blunt the social and economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the G20 leaders decided to inject USD 5 Trillion into the economy. The leaders shared the opinion that they should do whatever it takes to overcome the Corona crisis.

PM Modi at G20 Summit on Covid-19

King of Saudi Arabia convened the virtual G20 Summit, and PM Modi thanked him for his initiative and efforts.
While addressing the G20 leaders, PM brought to the notice the impact of the pandemic on the economy. Modi added that G20 countries account for the 80% of world GDP and 60% of world population, yet 90% of the COVID-19 cases and 88% of deaths due to Corona were in G20 countries. He emphasized on the need of a concrete action plan from G20 partners to fight Covid-19

"Let us put human beings rather than economic targets at centre of our vision for global prosperity and cooperation," PM Modi.

PM highlighted that human lives are more important than the economy. He wanted all the countries to share the benefits of medical research and development with other countries so that the entire humanity is benefited. He insisted on empowering the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the development of effective vaccines to deal with global pandemics.

PM hinted that the world may have a far-reaching social and economic impact due to the coronavirus outbreak. Therefore, he underlined and requested the G20 leaders to develop a new crisis management protocol to deal with a global health crisis.

Conclusion

It was anticipated that some G20 leaders may discuss the Chinese origin of Corona but no nation discussed it. However to deal with the Covis-19 crisis the spirit of all the leaders was of collaborative approach.
All the G20 leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the US President Donald Trump agreed to contribute to the WHO-led COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund on a voluntary basis.

Finally, a joint statement of G20 Leaders was issued at the end of the Summit. The statement called for a coordinated global response to fight the pandemic, adopting measures to safeguard the global economy, minimising trade disruption and steps to enhance global cooperation.