New Delhi, October 17
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit India from Tuesday for three days with a meeting scheduled with PM Modi in Gujarat. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is also expected to hold a conversation with him.
This will be Guterres’ first visit to India, since he began his second term in office in January this year. He had earlier visited India in his first term four years back.
The last major announcement for Gujarat was New Development Bank (NDB), or BRICS Bank, as it is called, announcing in May the setting of its Indian Regional Office (IRO) in Ahmedabad. The Bank is in the final stages of preparing for the physical opening of the office. NDB will soon announce the appointment of the Director-General, India Regional Office.
In April, WHO DG Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had also visited Gujarat for the laying of foundation stone of WHO Traditional Medicine Centre in Jamnagar district.
Guterres will arrive in Mumbai and pay tributes to the victims of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. He will also deliver a public address at IIT-Mumbai.
On October 20, he will join PM Modi at the launch of the Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) booklet, logo and tagline. The concept was unveiled by PM Modi during COP26 at Glasgow in November last year. This will be the PM’s second visit to poll-bound Gujarat in 10 days.
Mission LiFE is billed as “India’s signature initiative” at the UN and other international platforms for showcasing climate action and early achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, said the MEA.
Jaishankar would hold bilateral discussions with the UNSG on issues of global concern, steps to deepen India’s engagement with the UN, including through India’s upcoming Presidency of the G20 and reformed multilateralism.
In Kevadiya, Guterres is expected to pay floral tributes at the Statue of Unity and visit India’s first solar-powered village in Modhera as also the local Sun Temple.
