PM Modi last addressed the UN General Assembly in 2019, before Covid broke out.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in person today, the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in December 2019.

Landed in New York City. Will be addressing the UNGA at 6:30 PM (IST) on the 25th. pic.twitter.com/CUtlNZ83JT

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 25, 2021

PM Modi arrived in New York today, flying in from Washington DC.

The last time he addressed the Assembly in person was in 2019. In 2020, the high-level session had gone virtual. This time, though, global leaders have been given the option of delivering pre-recorded speeches.

A hundred-and-nine heads of state and government will address the General Debate in person, according to the second provisional list of speakers for the General Assembly, PTI reported. Nearly 60 will deliver speeches through pre-recorded video statements.

The theme for this year’s General Debate is “Building Resilience through hope to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalise the United Nations”.

Last year, world leaders had submitted pre-recorded video statements for the UN General Assembly session in September, as heads of state and government could not physically attend the annual gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was the first time in the UN’s 75-year history that the high-level session had gone virtual.

Earlier, in the US capital, PM Modi held his first bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House and attended his first in-person Quad summit on Friday.

The Prime Minister and his counterparts — Scott Morrison of Australia and Japan’s Yoshihide Suga — attended the meeting of Quad leaders hosted by US President Biden in the US capital.