External Affairs Minister Jaishankar to Pay 11-day Visit to US from Sunday

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will pay an 11-day visit to the US beginning Sunday to attend the UN General Assembly, participate in several plurilateral and trilateral meetings and hold talks with senior Biden administration officials.

Jaishankar will also host a ministerial meeting of the G4 grouping which, besides India, comprises Brazil, Japan, and Germany, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, announcing his visit.

The minister will also participate in the ‘High Level Meeting’ of the L.69 Group on ‘Reinvigorating Multilateralism and Achieving Comprehensive Reform of the UN Security Council’. The L.69 Group consists of developing countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbeans and Small Island Developing States, focused on reforms of the UN Security Council. “During his visit to New York from September 18 to 24, the external affairs minister will be leading the India delegation for the high-level week at the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA),” the MEA said in a statement.

The theme of the 77th UNGA is “A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges”. “To commemorate and showcase Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the external affairs minister would be addressing a special event “India@75: Showcasing India UN Partnership in Action on September 24, which would highlight India’s development journey and its contributions to South-South Cooperation,” the MEA said.

The event is expected to be addressed by the president of the 77th UNGA along with foreign ministers of several member states and the UNDP administrator. The MEA said Jaishankar would also participate in plurilateral meetings of the Quad, IBSA, and BRICS as well as meetings under trilateral formats, such as India-France-Australia, India-France-UAE and India-Indonesia-Australia. “He will also have bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of the G20 and UN Security Council member states, amongst others,” the MEA said.

Jaishankar’s address at the High Level Session of the 77th United Nations General Assembly is scheduled in the forenoon of September 24. Upon completion of the 77th UNGA-related engagements, Jaishankar will visit Washington from September 25-28 for bilateral meetings with US interlocutors. “His programme includes inter alia, discussions with his counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken; senior members of the US Administration, US business leaders, a round-table focused on science and technology and interaction with the Indian diaspora,” the MEA said.

“The external affairs minister’s visit would enable a high-level review of the multifaceted bilateral agenda and strengthen cooperation on regional and global issues to further consolidate the India-US strategic partnership,” it said.

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