Saudi King to chair G20 video summit on coronavirus tomorrow

Saudi Arabia's King Salman will chair a video summit of leaders of G20 countries on Thursday with the aim to advance a coordinated global response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The Saudi G20 Presidency has set the date of the extraordinary virtual Leaders' Summit for Thursday, March 26. King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud will chair the meeting to advance a coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its human and economic implications," the Kingdom said in a statement.

India is a member nation of the G20 group. The other members include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union.

Leaders from G20 member countries will be joined by those from other coronavirus-affected nations, including Spain, Jordan, Singapore, and Switzerland.

Several international organisations -- including the United Nations, World Bank, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization will take part.

Leaders from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Financial Stability Board, the International Labour Organization, International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- will also be the part of the conference.

Regional organisations will be represented by: Vietnam, the Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); South Africa, the Chair of the African Union (AU); the United Arab Emirates, the Chair of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); and Rwanda, the Chair of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 375,000 people and killed over 16,300, as per the latest data available on the World Health Organisation website.