PM Narendra Modi calls Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, moots G20 video-conference on coronavirus

Two days after holding a video-conference with his counterparts in other SAARC nations on the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called up Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to suggest a similar initiative involving all the G20 leaders.

Saudi Arabia currently holds the chair of the G20 (or the Group of Twenty)— the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

Modi conveyed to Mohammed bin Salman (a.k.a MbS) that his father and King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who is now the chairman of the G20, should convene a video-conference of the leaders of the bloc to work out a strategy not only to contain the Covid-19 outbreak but also to manage the economic fallout of the pandemic.

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During his talks with Saudi Arabian King's heir apparent, the prime minister emphasized on the need for coordinated efforts “to adequately address the global challenge” posed by the outbreak, which impacted “not only the health and well-being of several hundred thousand people but also threatened to adversely affect the economy in many parts of the world.”

Modi told MbS about his recent initiative to organise a video-conference with other leaders of the SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) nations.

The prime minister and the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia agreed that “a similar exercise at the level of G20 leaders”, under the aegis of Saudi Arabia as the Chair of G20, would be “useful at a global scale, both for discussing specific measures to address the challenges posed by the global outbreak of COVID-19 and also to instil confidence in the global populace”, according to a statement the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued in New Delhi after the two leaders spoke over the phone.

Modi and MbS decided that the officials of India and Saudi Arabia would remain in close contact in this regard, Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson of the MEA, said.

The regular G20 summit is scheduled to be held in Riyadh in November.

French President Emmanuel Macron, United States President Donald Trump and other leaders of the G7 already held a conference on Monday to coordinate the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the world economy.

India and Saudi Arabia are not members of the G7. They are members of the G20 though.

Prime Minister last Friday proposed to hold a video-conference with the leaders of the other SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) nations to chalk out a strategy to contain the pandemic in the region. The video-conference was held on Sunday, with Modi being joined by Prime Minister Lotay Tshering of Bhutan, Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli of Nepal, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of the Maldives and President M Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan. Pakistan was represented by Prime Minister Imran Khan's Special Assistant on Health Affairs, Dr Zafar Mirza.

Modi proposed to set up a SAARC Emergency Response Fund for COVID-19, with the initial USD$10 million contribution from India. He also proposed follow-up discussions between medical professionals of the SAARC region, as well as trade and economic officials, to further assess the impact of the pandemic. India offered to deploy its specially-constituted Rapid Response Teams of medical and other professionals, and testing equipment, to any SAARC partner country.