G20 comes together against Covid-19

Policharcha.com | Updated: March 27, 2020, 8:27 AM

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G20 virutal summit in Riyadh to provide a united front against Covid-19

Taking social distancing to a whole new level, leaders from more than a dozen countries conducted the G20 summit virtually through video conferencing. Chaired by Saudi Arabia, the summit’s agenda was to create a ‘united front’ to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. Leaders from around the world desired for a harmonised effort to tackle health, social, and economic impact of the Coronavirus and pledged to inject $5 trillion into the global economy.

Group of Twenty or G20 is a global forum consisting of 19 countries and European Union which are home to 60 percent of the world population and generates 80 percent of the world’s GDP.

PM Modi clarified India’s stance to give priority to health of the people over fixing the world economy. He mentioned that 90 percent of the Covid-19 cases and 88 percent of the virus related deaths have happened in the G20 countries, so it is imperative for the group to come up with a concrete action plan to fight the virus that has infected over 5 lakh people worldwide and claimed the lives of more than 22,000 people.

Talking about the new era of globalisation, PM Modi urged the nations to freely and openly share the benefits of medical research and development to promote the shared interests of humanity. He also called for reforms in the World Health Organisation to strengthen its mandate. 

Leaders from countries like US, UK, China, Canada, Germany, France, Russia, and South Korea came together with a view to safeguard the world economy. G20 as a group plans to invest $5 trillion in the world economy as part of targeted fiscal policy, economic measures, and guarantee schemes to counteract the social, economic, and financial impacts of the pandemic.

Representatives from various international organisations like WHO, World Bank Group, and International Monetary Fund were also a part of the conference. At the summit, leaders also committed to provide voluntary monetary relief through WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation and, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

To enhance global co-operation and address international trade disruption, the countries ensured to work toward strengthening the flow of vital medicines, agricultural products, and other important remedial products.

According to a forecast by ratings agency, Moody, G20 is set to record a 0.5 percent drop in their collective GDP, whereas the economies of US and Eurozone can take a hit of 2 percent and 2.2 percent respectively.

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