G20 summit: At the virtual G20 summit, PM Narendra Modi for 'new world' in the post-Covid environment
As the world leaders greeted each other on computer screens at the commencement of G20 Summit, it was a sombre acknowledgement of the new normal in the times of coronavirus pandemic. In his keynote address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that there is an urgent need for new world in a post-pandemic environment. The event hosted virtually by Saudi Arabia saw global leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting online to discuss the offline scenarios of growth and path of recovery.
While previous world order largely focussed on wealth creation and was capital centric, the new realities have forced the global powers to look at skill, talent management and nurturing the natural resources.
PM Modi also spoke about democratisation of technology and said that the new advancements should reach every section of the society. Talking about ‘work from anywhere’ principle, PM Modi said that this virtual summit should be followed up at another level. The world population must now look for scaling down the carbon footprints to help heal Mother Earth and lessen the burden on existing chain of consumption of natural resources.
The G20 summit has brought together leaders of the world's largest economies that comprise 85 percent of the global population. Apart from Asian countries, leaders of the European bloc also participated in the event. The G20 summit will end tonight with a declaration by world leaders on the need for a new order. India is set to host the G20 summit in 2022.
The G20 consists of 19 countries – Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US – and the European Union.
The group accounts for 85 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product. In June, it pledged more than $21bn towards diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics to fight the pandemic.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister says Riyadh is looking for a way to resolve a three-year rift with its Gulf neighbor Qatar.
Commenting on the dispute on Saturday, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said that Saudi Arabia continues to find a way to end the blockade on Qatar, but added that it remains conditional to address security concerns.
The dispute dates from 2017 when Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and non-GCC member Egypt accused Qatar of severely boycotting, diplomatic and transport relations and supporting "terrorism". Qatar denies all charges against it.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said last week there are no winners in the Gulf crisis, adding his country is hopeful it will end “at any moment”.
But Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the US, told Israeli media he did not believe a resolution was imminent.
“I don’t think it gets resolved anytime soon simply because I don’t think there has been any introspection,” al-Otaiba said.
Prince Faisal – speaking in a virtual interview on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders Summit, which his country is hosting – also said the kingdom enjoyed “good, amicable” relations with Turkey, which has been at odds with the kingdom for years over foreign policy.The murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 sharply heightened tensions.For over a year, some Saudi and Turkish traders have speculated that Saudi Arabia was enforcing an informal boycott of imports from Turkey.
Prince Faisal said that he had not seen any such numbers that would support the existence of a boycott.
The Saudi minister said he is confident that the incoming administration of Democrat President-Elect Joe Biden will advance policies that help regional stability, and any discussions with it will lead to stronger cooperation.
Riyadh is bracing itself for a new US president who pledged on the election campaign trail to reassess ties with Saudi Arabia, a state he described as a “pariah” in 2019.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman enjoyed close personal ties with US President Donald Trump and their relationship led to international criticism over Riyadh's human rights record following the murder of Khashoggi, Riyadh's role in the Yemen war and the detention of women rights activists Provided a buffer against.
Those regions can now become points of friction between Biden and Saudi Arabia, a major oil exporter and US arms buyer.
Prince Faisal emphasized the 75-year history of "strong defense cooperation" between the two countries and said he hopes to continue this.
