Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to preside over a meeting during New Delhi’s presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), said Syed Akbaruddin, India’s former envoy to UN, on Sunday.
PM Modi is expected to preside over the meeting of the UN Security Council on August 9. In over 75 years, this is the first time Indian political leadership has invested in presiding over an event of the 15-member UN body, the former permanent representative of India to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, said. The last time an Indian PM was engaged in this effort was the then PM PV Narasimha Rao in 1992 when he attended a UNSC meeting, he added. India on Sunday assumed the presidency of the UNSC. Ambassador of India to the United Nations, TS Tirumurti said India took over the presidency from France. This comes on the day India assumed the rotating presidency of the UNSC. During our presidency, India said it is organising three high-level signature meetings focussing on our priority areas–maritime security, peacekeeping, and counter-terrorism. India will also be organising a solemn event in memory of peacekeepers. Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla will also chair high-level meetings on topics of global importance.
