Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said it is essential to ensure that Afghanistan’s territory is not used to spread terrorism or for terrorist activities. Addressing the world leaders at the 76th session of United Nations General Assembly, PM Modi said, “Today, world is witnessing a surge in regressive thinking and extremism. In this situation, it is necessary to make the world a site of science-based, rational and progressive thinking.”
PM Modi was the first world leader to speak at the UN General Debate — the theme of which this year is ‘Building Resilience through hope to recover from Covid-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalise the United Nations’, reports The Indian Express.
About 109 heads of state and government will speak at the debate in person and nearly 60 will deliver speeches through pre-recorded video statements. Modi had last addressed the UNGA session in 2019. Last year, all the world leaders had submitted pre-recorded video statements for the session in September, as heads of state and government could not travel to attend the annual gathering physically due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, India and the US have said that they will take concerted action against all terrorist groups, including groups proscribed by the UN as they condemned cross-border terrorism and called for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice. A Joint Statement issued after the first bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday said that the United States and India stand together in a shared fight against global terrorism.
India’s First Secretary Sneha Dubey, while addressing the United Nations General Assembly earlier in the day, said the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. “This includes areas that are under illegal occupation of Pakistan. We call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation,” she added.
