BackCovid-19 impact: UNGA meet to go virtual for first time in 75 years
The landmark 75th session of the UN General Assembly is expected to begin on 15 September and the first day of the high-level general debate is likely to be held on 22 September
PremiumNEW DELHI : For the first time in its 75 years history, the United Nations will not have the hustle and bustle that goes with the convergence of world leaders, ministers, diplomats, civil society members and journalists for a General Assembly this year.
Rather, heads of states and governments have been asked to send pre-recorded video statements that will be played out as the UN General Assembly (UNGA) session goes “virtual", thanks to covid-19 pandemic sweeping the globe.
According to the programme schedule, UNGA will begin on 15 September. The General Assembly meeting to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the UN will take place on 21 September with a declaration formally adopted at the end of it. The General Debate– which would under normal circumstances have seen leaders and ministers from 193 UN member states address a global audience from behind the iconic lectern in the General Assembly hall -- will start on 22 September. Each country has been allotted 15 minutes during the GA session that will include recorded messages from leaders as well as remarks in the Assembly Hall by the country representative preceding the video, news reports said.
Besides this, a bio-diversity summit is scheduled for 30 September, a meeting of the GA on the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women is on 1 October while another to promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons is on 2 October. World leaders have been requested to submit their recorded messages for these events as well.
With the proceedings limited to video taped messages, there are those who say that this year’s session would be multi-lateralism reduced to the minimum.
It comes against the backdrop of the UN Security Council being unable to put out a statement on the pandemic due to differences of opinion among its permanent veto wielding members notably the US and China.
According to three people familiar with the working of the UN, the visit to the UN for the GA session by a leader is not only for the speech at the GA which would have been about 20 minutes under normal circumstances. There are a host of events scheduled around each leader’s visit – a case in point Prime Minister Narendra Modi had some half a dozen “plurilateral" with leaders of Caribbean and Pacific Island state besides others and many bilateral talks with heads of state and government. “These are occasions when leaders meet each other sometimes in a formal setting, sometimes in a very informal setting," said one of the people cited above. “Such meetings reinforce ties between leaders and countries," the person said.
A well documented anecdote is how former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi met former Turkish leader Turgut Ozal in an impromptu setting at the UN in 1985 that led to an exchange of visits and an unfreezing of ties between India and Turkey fraught over New Delhi’s support to the Greek Cypriots and Ankara’s support to Pakistan over Kashmir.
A look at Twitter posts by India’s former permanent representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin shows that India between Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, India had 90 engagements at the UN. “That is the kind of thing that will be missing this time around," the person cited above said.
With inputs from PTI
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
