PM Modi not attending UNGA high-level session, EAM Jaishankar to address on Sep 26

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend the annual UN General Assembly session later this month and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will address the high-level week, according to the latest provisional list of speakers issued by the UN.

The high-level General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly will begin on September 19, with Brazil as the traditional first speaker of the session, followed by the US.

According to the latest provisional list of speakers for the high-level general debate of the 78th session of the General Assembly, Jaishankar will address the General Debate on the morning of September 26, the last day of the high-level week.

In the first provisional list of speakers, India’s “Head of Government” (HG) was scheduled to address the session in the afternoon of September 22.

Nine years after Modi first proposed from the UN General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader was at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day on June 21.

From New York, Modi had travelled to Washington DC for his first State Visit hosted by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

Considered the “busiest diplomatic season” of the year at the United Nations Headquarters, the high-level session opens in September annually.

This year the 78th session of the General Assembly will commence on September 5.

During the high-level week, world leaders will convene for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit, the Climate Ambitions Summit and the General Debate, among other key events.

The 2023 SDG Summit will take place on September 18-19.

It will mark the beginning of a new phase of accelerated progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals with high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions leading up to 2030.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to address the high-level session on the first day of the General Debate. Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will address on September 23.

The UNGA high-level week will begin just days after the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi taking place on September 9-10 under India’s Presidency.

The high-powered summit will be attended by world leaders, including US President Biden.