International cooperation on vaccines, medicines answer to COVID challenge, says Jaishankar at G20 meeting

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday addressed the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting here and said that international cooperation is the answer to the challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also said that institutional multilateralism has been found wanting and reforms have many forms but vaccine equity will be the immediate test.

The minister said the real economy needs decentralised globalisation, including in manufacturing, food and health and resilient supply chains must develop in parallel.

He said there was a need of greater international cooperation to deal with the COVID-19 challenge.

"Addressed the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting at Matera, Italy today. My key messages: Whether it is vaccines, medicines, PPE or oxygen, international cooperation is the answer to the Covid challenge. Need more, not less," Jaishankar said in a tweet.

"Institutional multilateralism has been found wanting. Reforms have many forms but vaccine equity will be the immediate test. The real economy needs decentralised globalisation, including in manufacturing, food and health. Resilient supply chains must develop in parallel," he added.

The External Affairs Minister also said that the full diversity of "our planet needs more accurate reflection in global policymaking".

The G20 is an inter-governmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union.

Italy holds the Presidency of the G20 at present. The Foreign Affairs Ministers' Meeting is one of the ministerial meetings organized as part of the G20 Leaders Summit 2021.

( With inputs from ANI )

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