PM Modi to speak at UN Summit of the Future on Sep 23, but not at annual high-level meeting

United Nations, Sept 17 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the Summit of the Future on September 23, but not the annual high-level meeting of the General Assembly, according to the latest schedules from the UN.

Earlier, PM Modi was listed earlier as a speaker at the September 26 session of the Assembly high-level meeting, but it would appear he will not remain all through the high-level meeting that follows the Summit of the Future and runs from September 24 to 30.

External Affairs Minister (EAM), S. Jaishankar, is now listed as India's speaker at the Assembly high-level meeting and will address it on September 28.

After attending the Quad Summit with US President Joe Biden at his home state of Delaware on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to speak on Sunday at the "Modi and US, Progress Together" diaspora rally in the New York suburb Uniondale.

More than 25,000 people have applied for tickets to the diaspora event, according to the organisers.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to meet with several business leaders and world leaders after the rally.

As the leader voicing the aspirations of the Global South with an assertive diplomacy, many leaders from around the world seek meetings with him.

The Quad meeting that he will attend along with Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would be a farewell meeting for Biden, who is not running for a second term, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is leaving his post.

The four nations work jointly to ensure a peaceful Indo-Pacific region and help in the developmental efforts of the area.

Although the group formally known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue does not seek to be a military alliance, at their Saturday meeting the leaders are to announce plans for joint patrols by their Coast Guards to monitor the region where China has taken aggressive actions, according to diplomatic sources quoted by Japan's news agency Kyodo.

The Summit of the Future, according to the UN, aims to bring world leaders to chart the course of the world organisation to "accelerate efforts to meet our existing international commitments and take concrete steps to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities".

The leaders are expected to adopt the Pact of the Future, a visionary document that will include a Global Digital Compact that deals with both dangers and opportunities of technology.

Prime Minister Modi will be at the diaspora rally when the Summit of the Future begins on Sunday and he is listed as the 35th of the 72 speakers at the September 23 morning session which starts at 9 a.m. local time.

If all the speakers before him stick to their allotted time -- an unlikely prospect -- his turn would be around noon (9:30 p.m. in India).

The annual high-level meeting where world leaders survey the global scene and speak of their nations' programmes and outlook starts on September 24 with a speech by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who will be followed by Biden under a UN tradition.

EAM Jaishankar is listed for the afternoon session on September 28 and he should take the podium at about 4:30 p.m. (2 a.m. in India).

He is expected to hold bilateral meetings with many leaders and participate in meetings of various groups.

Two important leaders, Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia, will be missing at both meetings.

China's Vice-President Han Zheng and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are on the roster for both meetings.

Like PM Modi, many leaders of major countries will speak at only one of the two summits.

Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who will speak at the high-level meeting, will not be at the Summit of the Future, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken is listed for the US and Foreign Secretary David Lammy for Britian.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is also listed on the roster of speakers, along with several international and regional organisations, at the Summit of the Future.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)