President of next UN General Assembly session to visit India from Sunday

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Updated: Aug 28, 2017 19:42 IST

Slovak minister of foreign and European affairs Miroslav Lajcak will visit India from Sunday ahead of the 72nd UN General Assembly session which he will preside over.

Lajcak will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hold talks with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj during his two-day visit.

The UN General Assembly had in May elected Lajcak as the next President of the 193-member body.

Lajcak, 54, nominated for the position, was elected by acclamation as the next President of the 72nd UN General Assembly (UNGA). The 72nd session of the General Assembly will commence from September 12.

Lajcak, who was one of the candidates last year for the position of UN Secretary General, succeeds Fijian diplomat Peter Thomson.

According to information available on Slovakia’s foreign ministry website, Lajcak had hosted a reception last week for the ambassador of India on the occasion of the end of his diplomatic tenure in Slovakia.

At the reception, Lajcak noted the growing role of India on the global stage and said the two nations can cooperate not just bilaterally but also within international organisations including the United Nations.

During his meeting with Ambassador of India Param Jit Mann, Lajcak had noted that Slovakia’s relations with India were friendly, problem-free and also free of pending issues that could hamper their future development.

Lajcak, while speaking after his election as the president of the UNGA, had vowed to work to move forward the process of reform of the Security Council, saying member states feel the “time is up” for transforming the UN organ into a 21st century body.

“By far, the most widely mentioned UN reform topic is the reform of the UN Security Council,” Lajcak had said.

He had said there was a “high degree of accord that the time is up to transform the Security Council into a 21st century body.”

“I intend to work closely and consult widely with you on how to push forward agreement our leaders made at the 2005 World Summit,” he added.