World leaders to begin high-level meeting of UNGA in New York today

New York, Sep 20: World leaders will begin their high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly today. Global polarisation, Russia-Ukraine conflict, food & energy crises, economic problems and natural disasters are likely to dominate the agenda.

"A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges", is the theme of this year's meeting. Reform of UN Security Council is expected to get renewed attention during the meeting. The theme stems from the recognition that the world is at a critical moment in the history of the United Nations due to complex and interconnected crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, humanitarian challenges of unprecedented nature, a tipping point in climate change as well as growing concerns about threats to the global economy.

It will be high on India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's agenda when he meets with leaders from around the world and when he participates in two meetings focused on the reforms.

The US has signalled that President Joe Biden will present new ideas for moving the stalled reform process forward and hold wide consultations about it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not attending the meeting this year and Dr Jaishankar is scheduled to speak for India on Saturday.

About 150 heads of government or state are expected at the meeting formally known as the general debate of the Assembly that is held amid high security. As the world emerged from the worst of the Covid pandemic, the high-level meeting is taking place in-person after two years - it was all virtual in 2020 and hybrid 2021.