PM Modi to address high-level segment of UNESC on Friday

New Delhi, July 16 (IANS): For the first time after getting elected as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC), Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a broader UN membership on Friday in an annual High-Level Segment of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNESC) session.

The Prime Minister will deliver the keynote address virtually at this year’s High-Level Segment from 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. (local time) at the UN in New York. He will be speaking at the valedictory session along with the Prime Minister of Norway and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The annual High-level Segment convenes a diverse group of high-level representatives from the government, the private sector, civil society and academia. The theme of this year’s High-level Segment is “Multilateralism after Covid19: What kind of UN do we need at the 75th anniversary”.

Set against the changing international environment and the Covid-19 pandemic, this session will focus on critical forces shaping the course of multilateralism and explore ways to bolster the global agenda through strong leadership, effective international institutions, a broadening of participation and enhanced significance of global public goods.

This will be the first opportunity for Prime Minister Modi to address the broader UN membership since India’s overwhelming election as a non-permanent member of the Security Council on June 17, for the term 2021-22.

The theme of the High-Level Segment of the ECOSOC, on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the UN, also resonates with India’s Security Council priority, wherein India has called for a reformed multilateralism’ in a post-Covid-19 world. It also recalls India’s role, as the holder of the inaugural Presidency of ECOSOC (Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar, in 1946).

The Prime Minister had earlier delivered the keynote address virtually at the 70th anniversary of the ECOSOC in January 2016.