Jaishankar to address UN General Assembly high-level session on September 26

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will address the UN General Assembly’s high-level session on September 26. The 81st session begins September 8, with world leaders set to participate in the General Debate amid ongoing global geopolitical conflicts

United Nations: 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 will kick off on September 8, and world leaders will address the 193-member organisation during the General Debate, which will run from September 22 to 28.

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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 on Friday.

He addressed world leaders from the UN lectern last year.

Brazil will be the traditional first speaker at the General Debate, which 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, which have been 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 a high-level session to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development and a meeting on climate action and the just transition.

Other meetings include a high-level meeting to address the existential threats posed by sea-level rise; pandemic prevention, preparedness and response; and a plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

The heads of government of Bangladesh and Nepal will address the General Debate on September 24, followed by Pakistan a day later.

This will also be the last high-level UN General Assembly session for current UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose second five-year tenure as head of the global organisation ends in December this year.

The process to elect the next UN chief is underway, with all eyes on whether a woman will be selected to lead the 80-year-old body for the first time in its history.