He is visiting at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

President of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (PGA), Csaba Korosi will visit India from January 29-31. This will be PGA’s first bilateral visit to any country since he assumed UNGA Presidency in September 2022, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Saturday.

According to the Ministry, during the visit, PGA Csaba Korosi will be holding talks with EAM on key multilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.

The PGA has outlined five priorities for his UNGA Presidency: i) Standing firm on basic principles of the United Nations Charter; ii) Making significant and measurable progress in sustainability transformation; iii) Aiming at integrated, systemic solutions; iv) Enhancing role of science in decision-making; and v) Increasing solidarity to better endure new chapters of crises facing the world.

Given the PGA’s strong interest in India’s expertise in water management and experience in SDG’s, he 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, the PGA 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”.

In New Delhi, the MEA said, the PGA will also witness "Beating the Retreat Ceremony” on 29 January and pay floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat on January 30, on the occasion of Martyrs Day (Shaheed Diwas).

The PGA will also be traveling to Bengaluru on January 31, where his engagements include interaction with scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and a field visit to an IISc-led water conservation project. PGA is also expected to visit development projects in/around Bengaluru and interact with the UN- India country team. The Governor of Karnataka would be hosting a dinner in his honour, the Ministry said.

The 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 MEA maintained.