The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will begin his tour of India by paying respect to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
Antonio Guterres, the current secretary general of the United Nations, will visit India for three days beginning on Tuesday. Since he started his second term in January, this will be his first.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has announced that Guterres will pay tribute to the victims of the 26/11 terror attacks at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai as soon as he arrives in the country.
After that, he will deliver a speech titled “India @75: UN-India Partnership: Strengthening South-South Cooperation” at the Indian Institute of Technology.
Since his second term began in January, this trip will be Guterres’ first trip to India. Earlier, in October of 2018, during his first tenure as president, he had visited the country.
On October 20, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kevadiya, Gujarat, for an event related to Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment).
His trip to India comes more than a week before the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council meets in the nation for two days of talks.
G20 and Reformed Multilateralism
In addition, Guterres will meet with External affairs minister S Jaishankar for bilateral talks on “issues of global concern (and) initiatives to enhance India’s involvement with the UN, especially through India’s impending Presidency of the G20 and reformed multilateralism.”
On the last day of his trip, Guterres will be in Kevadiya, Gujarat, to help launch the Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) booklet, logo, and tagline alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Guterres will visit the first solar-powered community in Modhera and lay a floral wreath at the Statue of Unity during his time in Kevadiya. The Sun Temple in Modhera is among the stops the UNSG will make before continuing on to his next destination, the ministry added.
India is hosting two meetings of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee, on October 28 and 29, in Delhi and Mumbai, respectively, so the UN chief’s trip is well timed.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, will be in India from October 18-20 on an official business (MEA).
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) made the announcement that the Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, would meet with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, to have bilateral discussions on issues of global concern and steps to further advance India’s engagement with the United Nations, including through the upcoming presidency of the G20.
Mission of LiFE booklet
It was announced that on October 20, Guterres would be present in Kevadiya for the unveiling of the Mission LiFE booklet, logo, and tagline.
Modi presented the idea of LiFE at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, last November.
The prime minister had then asked the international community to propel LiFE as a worldwide mass movement towards “mindful and intentional utilisation, instead of thoughtless and destructive consumption,” with the goal of preserving and protecting the natural world.
The Ministry of External Affairs has announced that “Mission LiFE” will be India’s “signature project” at the United Nations and other international platforms to highlight climate action and early achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Its central idea reflects India’s ethos of respect for mother nature and aims at piloting a focused programme that will mobilise one billion (100 crore) Indians to become pro-planet people (3P), who will practise simple environmental and climate-friendly behaviour and actions in their daily lives to promote a shared commitment to protect our planet,” the report said.
It was stated by the Ministry of External Affairs that Guterres will, among other things, pay a floral homage at the Statue of Unity in Kevadiya and visit the first solar-powered hamlet in Modhera, Gujarat. These are just two of the many development initiatives that he will be visiting.
According to reports from the MEA, the UN secretary-general would visit the Sun temple in Modhera before moving on with the rest of his journey. The PTI’s MPB RC can be found here.
