Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday attended the 15th G20 Summit chaired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through video conferencing. The theme of the conference was 'Realizing 21st Century Opportunities for All'.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump were among the world leaders who met PM Modi through video conferencing to discuss the global impact of the coronavirus epidemic. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, in his opening remarks by the host of the two-day summit, talked about the "inexpensive and equitable access" of the equipment, including the vaccine development of COVID-19.
"Had a very fruitful discussion with G20 leaders. Coordinated efforts by the largest economies of the world will surely lead to faster recovery from this pandemic. Thanked Saudi Arabia for hosting the Virtual Summit," PM Modi tweeted.
"We offered India's IT prowess to further develop digital facilities for efficient functioning of the G20... Transparency in our processes helps in inspiring our societies to fight crisis collectively and with confidence. Spirit of trusteeship towards planet Earth will inspire us for a healthy and holistic lifestyle," he added.
Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, the G20 conference is taking place virtually this time. The annual session of the United Nations was also held in a virtual manner. The theme of the G20 conference was to find a holistic, sustainable and flexible way to overcome the crisis of Coronavirus.
During the G20 Summit, big leaders of the top 20 countries are discussing preparations to fight the epidemic. The biggest issue in the conference is employment. All the developed and developing countries are concerned about how to restore the employment that was largely lost during the Covid-19 crisis.
"Although we are optimistic about the progress made in developing vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics tools for Covid-19, we must work to create the conditions for affordable and equitable access to these tools for all people," King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia was quoted by news agency AFP as saying.
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"We have a duty to rise to the challenge together during this summit and give a strong message of hope and reassurance to our people by adopting policies to mitigate this crisis," he added.
The G20 organization was established in 1999. Earlier it consisted of the finance ministers of the member countries and the governors of the central bank. From the year 2008, the heads of government of member countries started joining it. The main objective of this change was to bring the economy back on track after the 2008 global economic downturn.
The G20 group consists of US, India, China, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, South Africa, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, Turkey and European Union member countries.