NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the G20 Extraordinary Virtual Leaders’ Summit on coronavirus on Thursday called for a new globalisation for collective well being of the entire humankind, noting that medical research should be freely and openly available for all countries.
The PM also called for greater international cooperation on humanitarian issues and pitched for the development of a new crisis management protocol and procedures to deal with global health crises, like the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
While the pandemic was a challenge, it also offered an opportunity for the world to cooperate on more humanitarian issues like climate change, terrorism and pandemics, he said, calling for shared research on new drugs and early warning systems to better deal with such crises in future.
He said financial and economic issues had overshadowed cooperation and called for global intervention on more humane issues. “There was consensus on sharing vital agricultural products and medical equipment. Also, sharing technical knowhow of dealing with pandemics was agreed upon,” sources said. “The leaders agreed that it was PM Modi’s initiative that the G20, for the first time in its history, was meeting to discuss an issue which did not pertain to economy or finance.”
Leaders pledge to inject $5 Trillion
G20 nations pledged to inject $5 trillion into the global economy to counter the pandemic amid forecasts of a deep recession. “We are strongly committed to presenting a united front against this common threat,” the leaders said in a joint statement after the summit. G20 nations pledged to inject $5 trillion into the global economy to counter the pandemic amid forecasts of a deep recession. “We are strongly committed to presenting a united front against this common threat,” the leaders said in a joint statement after the summit.