Covid-19 biggest challenge since World War 2: PM Modi

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Leaders at G20 Summit
Leaders at G20 Summit

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for greater transparency in the governance system and asked G20 to come together in fighting the effect of coronavirus crisis on economies.

The G20 summit - two-day virtual event - has been hosted by Saudi Arabia along with the heads of state and government of the 19 member countries and representatives of the European Union and international organisations.

Calling out pandemic a turning point and biggest challenge since World War 2, he called for decisive action by the G20 that should not be limited to economic recovery, jobs and trade, but also focus on preserving the earth.

Modi called for greater transparency in governance systems to inspire people to deal with shared challenges and said dealing with the environment as “trustees rather than owners” will lead to a holistic and healthy lifestyle, a principle whose benchmark could be a per capita carbon footprint.

He also mentioned how last decade was more focused on capital and finance; and as per the demand of the system, it is time now to focus on multi-skilling and re-skilling.

Since “work from anywhere” is the new normal in the post-Covid-19 world, Modi suggested the creation of a G20 “virtual secretariat” as a follow-up and documentation repository.

Interestingly, this was the third time in the last couple of weeks when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping came on the same platform amid heavy tensions across the LAC.