PM Modi to not address UNGA session, Jaishankar to represent India on Sep 28

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not address the annual debate at the United Nations General Assembly session here later this month, according to a revised provisional list of speakers issued by the UN.

PM Modi is scheduled to travel to New York later this month and address a mega community event on September 22 at the 16,000-seater Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island. He will also address the UN’s landmark ‘Summit of the Future’ that is being convened at the world body’s headquarters on September 22 and 23.

A provisional list of speakers for the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) issued by the UN in July had said that PM Modi would address the high-level debate on September 26. However, according to a revised provisional list of speakers issued by the UN on Friday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is now expected to address the General Debate on September 28.

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A note signed by Under Secretary General for General Assembly and Conference Management Movses Abelian accompanying the list said that the revised list of speakers “has been prepared by taking into account the changes in the level of representation (upgrades and downgrades) and reflects exchanges among Member States”.

This year, the General Debate of the 79th UNGA session will take place from September 24 to 30.

Brazil, traditionally the first speaker at the debate, will open the high-level session on September 24, followed by the US, with President Joe Biden delivering his current term’s final address to global leaders from the iconic UN podium before his country heads to the presidential elections in November.

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Modi took the oath of office for a historic third term as India’s prime minister in June and last addressed the annual UNGA session in September 2021. He had visited the UN headquarters on June 21 last year, leading the historic Yoga Day commemoration at the North Lawn at the world body’s headquarters before heading to Washington DC for a State Visit hosted by Biden.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will present his report before the start of the General Debate, followed by an address by the president of the 79th session of the General Assembly.

Guterres is convening the ambitious Summit of the Future at the UN headquarters ahead of the high-level week, with action days slated for September 20 and 21 and the summit scheduled on September 22 and 23.

World leaders will convene at the United Nations to adopt the Pact for the Future, which will include a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations as annexes.

“The summit is a high-level event, bringing world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future,” the UN said.

Over 24,000 members of the Indian diaspora have signed up for the community event in Long Island to attend Modi’s address.

The Indian-American Community of USA (IACU) said in a statement that registrations for the ‘Modi&US Progress Together’ event have come through 590 community organisations, all of whom have signed up as ‘Welcome Partners’, from across the United States.

While Indian-Americans from at least 42 states are expected to attend, the response has been particularly strong from the tri-state area, it said.

Sources had told PTI that preparations are in full swing for the community event, coming 10 years after Modi addressed a massive community gathering at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York in September 2014, months after being sworn in as the prime minister for the first time.

In 2019, Modi had addressed the mega community event, ‘Howdy Modi’, at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, where he was joined by former president Donald Trump.

This year, Modi’s visit to the US comes weeks before the country’s presidential polls in November. The contest is between Republican candidate Trump and Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris is the first woman of Black and Indian heritage to become the US vice president and the presidential nominee of a major political party.