Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak to the Indian-American community at a mega diaspora event when he visits the US for the high-level UN General Assembly session next month. On September 22, the 16,000-seat Nassau Coliseum in Long Island will host the community gathering.

A UN provisional schedule of speakers states that Modi will speak at the high-level UN General Assembly session here on September 26.

PTI reported that plans for the Long Island community event are well on. This event will take place ten years after Modi spoke at a massive community assembly in September 2014 at New York’s renowned Madison Square Garden. This occurred only a few months after he had arrived in the city to attend the prestigious annual General Assembly session, shortly after assuming office as Prime Minister.

In 2019, Modi spoke at the massive community gathering “Howdy Modi” at Houston, Texas’s NRG Stadium, where he was accompanied by US President Donald Trump. This year, Modi’s visit to the US occurs just a few weeks before the nation votes in a presidential contest between Democratic nominee for President Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump on November 5. 

As per the provisional list of speakers for the General Debate released by the UN on Monday, India’s Head of Government is scheduled to address the high-level session in the afternoon of September 26. The UN releases updated provisional lists of speakers in the weeks leading up to the high-level session to reflect any modifications in attendance, schedules and speaking slots of leaders, ministers and ambassadors. 

This year, the 79th session of the UN General Assembly will hold a high-level General Debate from September 24–30.

Brazil, which has always been the first country to speak at the debate, will kick off the high-level session on September 24. The US will then speak, with US President Joe Biden giving the last speech of his current term to world leaders from the famous UN podium before his nation holds presidential elections in November.

After taking office in June for an unprecedented third term as Prime Minister, Modi last spoke at the UNGA’s annual high-level session in September 2021. On June 21 of last year, he went to the UN headquarters, where he oversaw a historic Yoga Day observance on the North Lawn of the organisation. He then left for a state visit to Washington, DC, which was hosted by Biden.

Before the General Debate begins, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will give his report. The President of the 79th session of the General Assembly will then speak. During the high-level week, Guterres is also organising the historic Summit of the Future at UN Headquarters, with action days planned for September 20–21 and the Summit for September 22–23.

World leaders will convene at the United Nations to adopt the Pact for the Future, which includes a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations as annexes. “The Summit is a high-level event, bringing world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future,” the UN said. It further added that effective global cooperation is increasingly critical to our survival but difficult to achieve in an atmosphere of mistrust, using outdated structures that no longer reflect today’s political and economic realities.

(with inputs from PTI)