PM Narendra Modi to skip 71st UN session, Sushma Swaraj likely to go instead

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to skip the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this year, and has asked external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to represent India. Modi will be absent for the session for the first time in three years.

The Prime Minister has focused on UNGA until now not just to project India's soft power, but also to elucidate the country's position on terrorism and climate change. He will be conspicuous by his absence this year, not least because the 71st session will see the presence of over 150 heads of state or government. UNGA will be significant this year also because US President Barack Obama is expected to hold a Leaders' Summit on the global refugee crisis on its sidelines.

According to the state department, the summit aims to galvanise global commitment to increase funding to humanitarian appeals and international organizations, admit more refugees through resettlement or other legal pathways and increase refugees' self-reliance and inclusion through opportunities for education and legal work. In his speech at UNGA last year, PM Modi had made a strong pitch for UN reforms, saying, "We must reform the United Nations, including its Security Council, so that it carries greater credibility and legitimacy." This year's general debate will open on September 20 and will run through to September 26, when Swaraj will address the annual high-level debate.

According to the first provisional list released by the UN, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to attend the general debate and address global leaders on September 21. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena are also expected to attend. Last year, Modi had attended the high-level UN Sustainable Development Summit ahead of the general debate, when world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an inter-governmental set of aspiration goals with 169 targets.

He had also attended the UN Peacekeeping Summit hosted by Obama when he had announced that India will contribute an additional battalion of 850 troops for UN peacekeeping operations.