Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend the UN General Assembly (UNGA) session to be held in New York later this month. He was replaced by External Affairs Minister S.K. Jaishankar will represent India in UNGA. PM Modi’s decision not to participate in UNGA has taken place at a time when US President Donald Trump has fined India for buying oil from Russia, after which there is increased tension between India and America over tariffs.

The names of both Prime Minister Modi and Donald Trump were included in the list of speakers released by the United Nations. In the 80th season of UNGA, high-level general debate will be held from 23 to 29 September, with traditionally the Brazil session, followed by America. The name of PM Modi as well as Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was also included in this session.

India will address the General Assembly

According to the list of speakers, India will address the General Assembly on the morning of 27 September. In this session, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India in place of the Prime Minister. This high-level session, considered the busiest diplomatic session of the year at the United Nations Headquarters, begins in September every year. This year, this session will be focused on Israel-Hamas conflict as well as Ukraine-Russia conflict, which makes it important.

Indo-US tariff tension

In February this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to the US for a bilateral meeting with Donald Trump at the White House. A joint statement was issued after the meeting in which Modi and Trump had announced a plan to negotiate the first part of the bilateral trade agreement (BTA). However, Trump imposed 25 percent additional tariff on India for the purchase of Russian oil last month, causing the total tariff to 50 percent.

India’s Foreign Ministry called Trump’s move wrong and without thinking. The Ministry of External Affairs said that like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to protect its national interests and economic security.

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