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The 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly is going on. This is the last General Assembly session of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Guterres' tenure has been filled with a record number of global crises, conflicts, pandemics, climate disasters and a critical period of artificial intelligence.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman has been elected President of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. He will monitor the process of selecting the new United Nations Secretary General.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not go to address this UN General Assembly. But apart from PM Modi, many big names are also included in this line. Chinese President Xi Jinping did not participate in it despite being on American tour.
Let us know who are those leaders who did not go to address the UN General Assembly and what are the reasons.
India: Narendra Modi
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has relatively rarely attended the meetings of the United Nations General Assembly.
He last addressed the United Nations General Assembly in 2021. Since then, the world's largest democracy has been continuously serving as Foreign Minister S. Has been sending Jaishankar there.
Deccan Herald, South India's leading English newspaper, has written in its report, "Earlier this year, Narendra Modi was listed as the speaker to deliver India's national statement on September 25 at the 81st United Nations General Assembly. The United Nations releases the list of speakers only when the concerned country asks for time to speak. The United Nations does not prepare this list arbitrarily. This means that Modi changed his decision to go to the United Nations General Assembly, thereby creating a record in Jaishankar's name.
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Vijayalakshmi Pandit is the only other Indian who led India's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly five times. However, he did not do this five consecutive times. Moreover, on these five occasions she was not even a part of India's foreign affairs establishment. Pandit was the Governor of Maharashtra when she led the Indian delegation to the 18th United Nations General Assembly in 1963.
“Jaishankar has an advantage here because next year he will complete 50 years of a diplomatic career, where such social interactions have been part of his daily routine,” writes KP Nair, diplomatic analyst in Deccan Herald. High society conversations can influence hard diplomacy and help advance national interests.
KP Nair has written, "Until Modi clarifies the situation, one can only speculate whether this is the reason why he gives the leadership role to his Foreign Minister in the UNGA every year." A trained diplomat is better suited for this role than most professional Indian politicians.
''India is planning to contest elections for the non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council in 2028. Campaigns for Security Council seats are usually led by the foreign minister. The Prime Minister rarely intervenes directly. "A professional diplomat and the Foreign Minister are best suited to lead this important campaign during 'High-Level Week', as this week provides ample opportunities for this."
Germany: Friedrich Merz
German broadcaster DW wrote, "Friedrich Merz is in his second year in office. Wants to be more active on the international stage and has described himself as "foreign policy chancellor". But domestic politics is keeping him busy.
Parliamentary elections were held in three German states in September, and Friedrich Merz is under greater pressure than ever as chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union.
The CDU was voted out of power in Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin, while in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania it could not even enter the state assembly. This has happened for the first time after the establishment of the Union Republic of Germany.
Merz is busy managing domestic crises and appears to want to prevent his rivals from planning a rebellion in his absence.
In his place, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadefull will speak at UNGA.
Italy: Georgia Meloni
The Italian Prime Minister is in a much stronger position than Merz, but has said she needs to focus on domestic matters this week.
After the NATO summit in early July, Georgia Meloni said that she had recently returned from attending several international summits and had to deal with many matters, including several pending issues related to Italy.
He also said that Merz had also not joined UNGA in 2025. This time Meloni is also sending Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in his place.
South Africa: Cyril Ramaphosa
The President of South Africa recently attended the BRICS summit held in India.
He said that he will not attend the United Nations General Assembly due to health reasons.
Doctors have advised him to rest and give him time to recover.
Ramaphosa's office did not provide further details about his condition. South Africa will also be represented by Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola.
Egypt: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly will represent the country at the UNGA in place of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. Al-Sisi's office did not give any reason for his absence.
In the initial years of assuming power in 2014, the President regularly attended the UN General Assembly.
In 2020, the event took place online due to the COVID pandemic, and the following year it was held in a hybrid format, with al-Sisi delivering a pre-recorded video message.
He has not attended the General Assembly since it was held in person again.
Nigeria: Bola Tinubu
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu is the third influential African leader not to attend the UN General Assembly this year.
According to Nigerian media, his spokesperson said that Vice President Kashim Shettima will represent the West African country fully and effectively.
Meanwhile Tinubu is on leave. He spent time in Britain in late August and then went to France.
China: Xi Jinping
The absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping is under special attention at the international level this year. Xi was in the US during this year's "High-Level Week" but did not go to New York.
Jinping returned from Washington. Here he was treated to a full state visit, including a state dinner at the White House and a military parade.
There are differences between Xi and Trump on many important issues including trade relations, artificial intelligence and the security situation of Taiwan.
Xi Jinping last addressed the UN Headquarters in person in 2015.
This was the year of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations. He emphasized China's role in 'victory in the world anti-fascist war'. This was a reference to the Second World War.
At the same time, he also underlined Beijing's legitimacy for China's leadership role in building the international system.
Asia Nikkei has written in one of its reports, "Not attending the UN General Assembly also reduces the risk. Any other world leader may unexpectedly criticize China during a public debate. Anti-China protests outside the UN headquarters during Xi's visit to New York in 2015 also attracted widespread attention.
Russia: Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin is also rarely seen on this prestigious platform of the United Nations, so it is not surprising that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke on behalf of Russia this year.
Vladimir Putin last personally attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 28 September 2015. This was the occasion of the 70th UNGA session.
This was his first personal presence at the Annual General Meeting since 2005.
After 2015, Putin has not given any clear and consistent official reason for staying away from the United Nations General Assembly.
This sequence was before the Ukraine war. He also did not attend the annual General Assembly in New York between 2016 and 2019 and generally entrusted Russia's representation to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The UNGA has never been a regular forum for Putin. Even before 2015, he had attended the General Assembly occasionally.
He had participated individually only in 2000, 2003, 2005 and 2015. His 2015 visit coincided with the 70th anniversary of the United Nations and a major diplomatic effort over Syria. So it was an extraordinary trip rather than a regular tour.
Palestinian Territories: Mahmoud Abbas
Regarding the Palestinians, the US State Department recently said it was expanding sanctions "that prevent visas to members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority." This year too, like last year, Abbas is planning to address the heads of state and government present there through video message.
