Amid tariff tensions, PM Narendra Modi to skip UN session, Jaishankar likely to take part

September 6, 2025

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will neither visit the US in September nor address the annual high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar may likely address the UNGA on behalf of India.

It is worth noting that earlier media reports had come that PM Modi would attend the UN General Assembly session and present his views there. But now it is clear that PM Modi is not going there. This decision has been taken at a time when Trump’s tariff bomb has stirred bitterness between India and the US.

This will be a milestone meeting for the United Nations as the United Nations turns 80 this year. The theme of the General Assembly is “Better Together: 80 Years and More for Peace, Development and Human Rights”. The 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly will begin on September 9.

The high-level general debate will run from September 23-29, with Brazil being the traditional first speaker of the session, followed by the US. US President Donald Trump will address world leaders from the prestigious UNGA podium on September 23, his first address to a UN session in his second term in the White House.

It was already clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping would not attend this high-level session.