Saudi King, French Prez review G20 efforts

Riyadh, Sep 8 Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and French President Emmanuel Macron reviewed the efforts of the G20 countries to support global economies.

In a phone call on Monday, the two sides also discussed the role of G20 in backing health systems to combat the implications of the coronavirus pandemic, reports Xinhua news agency.

Macron hailed the cooperation between the two countries and the efforts of the Saudi G20 presidency.

The two leaders also discussed bilateral relations and the latest regional issues and efforts to tackle them.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, the G20 countries have been holding regular meetings to deal with various impacts of the virus on various sectors to overcome them.

The G20 leaders during a summit held in March vowed to pump more than $5 trillion into the international economy.

Monday's call came a day after King Salman and US President Donald Trump discussed the efforts of the G20 group to combat the global Covid-19 pandemic.

During the call on Sunday, the Saudi King also appreciated the efforts made by the US to promote regional peace, affirming the Kingdom's keenness to reach a lasting and just solution to the Palestinian cause through the Arab Peace Initiative proposed by the Kingdom in 2002.

Under a historic US-brokered accord on August 13, the United Arab Emirates agreed to become the third Arab state to normalise ties with Israel, after Egypt and Jordan.

Under the Initiative, Arab nations have offered Israel normalised ties in return for a statehood deal with the Palestin and full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

( With inputs from IANS )