EAM S Jaishankar to address annual high-level UNGA session on September 26

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will deliver an address during the 81st annual high-level UN General Assembly session on September 26. The assembly will commence on September 8 and run from September 22 to 28, with world leaders addressing the 193-member organization. Jaishankar has been scheduled to speak in the afternoon session, following his address to world leaders from the UN lectern last year.

The session will be presided over by Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, who was elected in June to lead the UN organisation. The United States' President Donald Trump plans to address the UN session on September 22, marking his second address to the UN during his second term in office. This high-level session comes amid ongoing geopolitical conflicts, including the US-Israel war against Iran, which has had a damaging impact on countries in the Global South and least developed nations due to rising food and fuel costs.

The session will also feature meetings dedicated to commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, climate action and just transition, addressing sea level rise existential threats, pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, and the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

This will be the final high-level UN General Assembly session for current Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose second five-year term ends in December. The process to elect the next UN chief is underway, with a focus on whether a female leader will be chosen for the first time in the organization's 80-year history.