Jaishankar to address UNGA session on September 26

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will address the annual high-level UN General Assembly session on September 26. The 81st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) will kick-off on September 8, and world leaders will address the 193-member organisation at the General Debate, which will run from September 22 to 28.

Jaishankar is scheduled to address the General Debate in the afternoon session on September 26, according to a revised provisional list of speakers for the high-level session released here. He addressed world leaders from the UN lectern last year. 

Brazil will be the traditional first speaker at the General Debate that opens on September 22, followed by the US. The year-long 81st session of the UN General Assembly will be presided over by Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, who was elected in June to head the 193-member UN organisation.

US President Donald Trump will address world leaders from the iconic UNGA podium on September 22, his second address to the UN session in his second term in the White House.

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

The session this year comes amid continuing geopolitical conflicts across the world, including the months-long US-Israel war against Iran that has had a devastating cascading impact on countries of the Global South as well as the least developed nations, affected by rising food and fuel costs in the wake of the continued disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. Meetings scheduled to take place during the UNGA session include high-level session to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development; meeting on climate action and the just transition.

High-level meeting to address the existential threats posed by sea level rise; pandemic prevention, preparedness and response and plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of nuclear weapons.