New Delhi: External Affairs minister S Jaishankar today addressed the G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting at Matera, Italy, where he said international cooperation is the answer to the challenge posed by the Covid pandemic. Be it in terms of vaccines, medicines, PPE kits or oxygen.

He expressed, ''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 full diversity of our planet needs more accurate reflection in global policymaking.''

Jaishankar arrived in Italy from Greece on the second leg of this two-nation tour to attend the G20 ministerial meetings. The G20 summit is scheduled to be held in Italy in October. India is expected to hold the presidency of the G20 in 2022. The G20 is an influential bloc that brings together the world's major economies.

India has argued that a more relaxed system will lead to a bigger vaccine supply, which is the need of the hour. The demand has been echoed by multiple organisations across the world.

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PM Narendra Modi's high-level meeting, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and HM Amit Shah