Diplomacy in the times of COVID19: India shows the way! 1st-ever virtual G20 summit on Thursday

Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent video conferencing with the SAARC leaders, Saudi Arabia has planned to hold an Extraordinary Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit later this week. This year Saudi Arabia is the chair of G20 the grouping which represents 86 per cent of the global GDP. And India will be the chair of G-20 summit in 2022.

According to a top government officer “The video conferencing of the G-20 leaders is scheduled for Thursday where the issues on the agenda include the impact of the COVID-19 on global economics as well as ways to fight this.”

On Wednesday, a virtual G-20 Sherpa meeting will take place where India’s Sherpa Suresh Prabhu will take part.

Last week, Prime Minister Modi and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud had discussed the virtual meeting of the G20 leaders during a telephone conversation. Both leaders had also discussed the efforts being made by the developed and developing economies. Modi also had a telephone talk with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on similar issues.

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