Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the annual high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, according to a provisional list of speakers issued by the UN New Delhi.
The 80th session of the UNGA will open on September 9. The high-level General Debate will run from September 23-29, with Brazil as the traditional first speaker of the session, followed by the US President Donald Trump will address world leaders from the iconic UNGA podium on September 23, his first address to the UN session in his second term in the White House.
Even as trade negotiations were ongoing, Trump imposed tariffs totalling 50 per cent on India, including 25 per cent for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil that will come into effect from August 27. Responding to the tariffs, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has said that targeting of the country is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security, it said.
Last week’s announcement of Trump’s executive order imposing the additional 25 per cent tariff came at a time when a team from the US is scheduled to visit India from August 25 for the sixth round of negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement. The two countries are aiming to conclude the first phase of the pact by fall (October-November) this year.
The UNGA list of speakers for the General Debate is provisional, and there is a possibility of changes in schedules and speakers over the next few weeks. The list will continue to be updated accordingly. Considered the busiest diplomatic season of the year at the United Nations Headquarters, the high-level session opens in September annually.
The session this year comes amid the continued Israel-Hamas war as well as the Ukraine conflict. Trump has said that in the six months of his second presidential term, he has solved several wars, including a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Thailand, Israel and Iran, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Serbia and Kosovo. Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for stopping the May conflict between India and Pakistan.
(Note: Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Daily Jagran staff. Credit: PTI )