Italy seeks independent probe
COVID ORIGIN
Italy wants an independent inquiry into the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic in China and backs India’s calls for reform of multilateral bodies such as WHO that didn’t perform as expected during the current crisis, the country’s minister for European affairs Vincenzo Amendola has said.
With Italy and India set to take on the presidency of the G20 in 2021 and 2022, Amendola said the two countries would also play a key role in helping shape the post-covid-19 world order, including global supply and value chains and ways to recover from the economic crisis created by Covid.
In an interview with HT over Skype, he said Italy backs Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call, made during the G20 virtual summit on March 26, for reforms of international bodies such as the World Health Organization to meet needs of a changing world. “WHO for this crisis didn’t perform according to some criteria and…it’s necessary…to open an independent inquiry on what happened in China that was the starting place of this crisis,” he said. “Your PM was right as multilateral aspect of global order is not updated [with] risks and opportunity of current period. WHO, I don’t think, it performed in a correct way, there were many delays and problems,” he added.
Describing Europe and India as “sisters”, he spoke of the need for closer cooperation between Italy and India both to shape the agenda of the G20 and to help fashion a new world order.
“If I look where we are going to invest, I see that you [India] are the actor relevant for our common future,” he said, referring to possibility of working together on green technologies.
With Italy set to become G20 president in 2021 and India taking on in 2022, he said: “We are going to be the two countries that will bring G20 out of the recession.”
Covid-19 had emerged as a “big test for multilateral cooperation”, he said. “A few months ago, there were many people who wanted to participate in the funeral of multilateralism but nowadays it is clear multilateralism is necessary to strengthen resilience of global economy.”
He was also critical of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. “There should be not just one way of distributing, producing and giving the ownership of this trade track. There should be…different options and the EU is…devoted to diversification of rules of trade and creation of value chains.”