New Delhi, May 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to participate in the virtual summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on Monday to discuss strategies to fight the coronavirus pandemic. According to a Hindustan Times report, this will be a first time Modi will take part in the NAM meeting since becoming the Prime Minister in 2014.

The meeting will take place at around 4:30 pm India time and external affairs minister S Jaishankar will also be attending it.  India was represented by the vice president in the last two summits in 2016 in Venezuela and 2019 in Azerbaijan. India's COVID-19 Count Rises to 42,533 With 2,553 New Cases in Past 24 Hours, Death Toll Jumps to 1,373.

The online session will conclude with a political declaration of the movement "uniting against Covid-19" as well as identified measures for enhanced coordination among NAM members in their battle against COVID-19. Pakistan, too, would be participating in the NAM virtual summit. The country will be represented by President Arif Alvi. Azerbaijan is the president of the grouping till 2022 and the meet is being organised under the leadership of its president Ilham Aliyev.

NAM represents the biggest grouping of countries outside the United Nations, comprising 120 developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America. A number of heads of states and governments will participate in the virtual summit.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India crossed the 42,000 mark on Monday with the tally reaching 42,533 and the death toll rising to 1,373. The nationwide lockdown was extended to May 17 on Saturday, in view of the rising coronavirus numbers in the country. However, some relaxations have been announced in the green and the orange zones as part of the third phase of the lockdown.

(With additional inputs from agencies)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 04, 2020 10:51 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).