United Nations, July 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to attend the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York this September, as outlined in the preliminary program released by Assembly President Dennis Francis' office. According to the schedule, Prime Minister Modi will deliver his speech during the afternoon session on September 26.
Joining him later in the same session are Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Prime Minister of Nepal. This marks Prime Minister Modi's fifth address to the Assembly, a week when world leaders gather at the UN headquarters for their annual meeting, discussing international policies and global developments.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Prime Minister Modi addressed the high-level meeting remotely. While last year he visited the UN in June for the International Day of Yoga, an initiative he launched in his inaugural address in 2014, he did not attend the September high-level meeting.
These sessions are crucial for leaders to lay out their international stances, but equally significant are the numerous bilateral meetings and forum participations that occur behind the scenes. During previous UN assemblies, Prime Minister Modi has been sought after by numerous international leaders for meetings.
Prime Minister Modi delivers his speeches in Hindi, with simultaneous translation into the UN's six official languages. The schedule may change, including the possibility of adjusting Prime Minister Modi's speech time currently set between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in New York, translating to overnight between 12:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. in India on September 27.
