Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend the high-level annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in September, according to the roster of speakers released by the office of the Assembly president.
The tentative roster has him speaking on September 22 between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time (12:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. in India on September 23), but it is likely to be changed to a more hospitable time for viewers in India.
This will be his second visit to the UN and the US this year after his last month’s visit, which included participation in the International Day of Yoga celebration at the UN.
He has addressed the General Assembly’s annual high-level meetings four times in person and remotely in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.
Adding to the significance of the traditional high-level week of the Assembly this year, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has announced a Climate Ambition Summit to coincide with it.
He described it as “a no-nonsense summit” with “no compromises”.
Guterres will expect Modi to come up with concrete proposals to raise India’s goals to fight climate change.
For the summit, Guterres said: “There is a price of entry and the price of entry is non-negotiable — credible, serious and new climate action and nature-based solutions that will move the needle forward and respond to the urgency of the climate crisis must be presented.”
Assembly President-elect Dennis Francis of Trinidad, who will take over the next session in September, has made its theme “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all”.
As of Monday, 107 heads of state and 52 prime ministers have lined up for the high-level week when the real action takes place away from the General Assembly at personal meetings and negotiations between the gathered leaders.
Notable absentees are Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China whose countries will draw a lot of attention at the meetings.
Prime Ministers Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan and Pushpa Kamal Dahal of Nepal are scheduled to speak on the morning of September 22 before Modi, and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina the next day.
By tradition, the high-level week at the Assembly will start on September 19 with an address by Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will be followed by US President Joe Biden.
(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
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