WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The concept of a community with a shared future for mankind is "absolutely more compelling" in times of global crises, said a U.S. expert on international relations.
"Trans-national challenges like climate change and pandemic response demand a community-spirit based shared response. There is just no other way around," said Sourabh Gupta, senior fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies in Washington, D.C. in a recent interview.
The outlook for the global economy over the next quarter or two is very grim, said Gupta, who expected the upcoming extraordinary virtual summit of the Group of 20 (G20) to help work out a coordinated global economic and global health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The need of the hour is for the G20 to hold an emergency meeting and roll out a set of measures related to coordinated fiscal stimulus, keeping supply chains open (especially for medical equipment), commit to avoiding competitive exchange rate devaluations, and providing additional funds to backstop the global financial safety net," he said.
Unfortunately, at this time, most countries are frozen with panic or consumed by domestic fire-fighting, said the expert.
"With the Trump Administration's deeply-misguided low regard for multilateralist solutions, I'm afraid the outlook on this front doesn't look good either," said Gupta.
Gupta hailed the role played by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the combat against COVID-19.
"(Director-General) Dr. Tedros (Adhanom Ghebreyesus) and the WHO as an institution deserve significant credit for their response so far," said Gupta.
Gupta also commended China as well as other countries and regions in East Asia for having staged a swift and effective fight against the coronavirus.
"They have essentially written the playbook of how the early response to the crisis must be marshalled - even though they have varied political systems," said the expert.
