UNGA President begins India visit today

Csaba Korosi, President of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (PGA), will arrive in New Delhi on Sunday on a three-day visit to India, his bilateral trip to any country since assuming UNGA Presidency in September 2022.

Korosi will hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on key multilateral and regional issues of mutual interest on Monday.

The Hungarian diplomat has outlined five priorities for his UNGA Presidency, including standing firm on basic principles of the United Nations Charter; Making significant and measurable progress in sustainability transformation; Aiming at integrated, systemic solutions; Enhancing role of science in decision-making; and, increasing solidarity to better endure new chapters of crises facing the world.

​Given his strong interest in India’s expertise in water management and experience in SDG’s, Korosi would also be interacting with senior officials of NITI Aayog and India’s G20 Presidency team to explore the scaling up of India’s best practices.

On January 30, he will deliver a public address at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on his Presidency theme of ‘Solutions through Solidarity, Sustainability and Science in the UN’.

He will also witness ‘Beating the Retreat Ceremony’ and pay floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat on the same day before travelling to Bengaluru.

On January 31, the PGA’s engagements include interaction with scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and a field visit to an IISc-led water conservation project. He is also expected to visit developments projects in/around Bengaluru and interact with the UN-India country team. Governor of Karnataka would be hosting a dinner in his honour.

“​PGA’s visit to India will be an opportunity to exchange views on global challenges that the United Nations is currently seized with. It would help reinforce India’s abiding commitment to multilateralism, including through its ongoing G20 Presidency, and how it would address these global challenges meaningfully for a better future for the Global South,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Saturday.