In a first for India since Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over a meeting during New Delhi’s presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), India’s former envoy to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said on Sunday.
According to the former permanent representative of India to the United Nations, this is the first time in over 75 years that Indian political leadership has invested in presiding over an event of the 15-member UN organisation. On August 9, Prime Minister Modi is expected to preside over a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
“A first in the making… With India as President of @UN Security Council in August, an Indian Prime Minister may perhaps preside, albeit virtually, a Council meeting for 1st time on 9 August 2021," Akbaruddin said on Twitter and shared a picture of PM Modi’s last visit to the UN from 2019.
Akbaruddin said, “Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister, who has decided to preside over a meeting of the United Nation Security Council."
“It shows that leadership wants to lead from the front. It also shows that India and its political leadership are invested in our foreign policy ventures," he added.