KATHMANDU, Sept 18: Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli will be addressing the General Debate of the 75^th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) virtually on September 25, 2020.

Issuing a press statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said on Thursday evening that PM Oli will be leading a Nepali delegation to the 75^th session of the UNGA being held in New York. The annual session of the world body is taking place virtually this year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, world leaders are going to address the UNGA session virtually. This is the first time the UNGA is taking place virtually since its founding in 1945.

The theme of the general debate of the UNGA this year has been set as "The Future We Want, the United Nations We Need: Reaffirming Our Collective Commitment to Multilateralism - Confronting COVID-19 through Effective Multilateral Action".

According to the MOFA, High-level week of the UNGA will begin on September 17.

The Prime Minister will also address the high-level meeting to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the United Nations on 21 September 2020. He will also address the 2020 SDG Moment being held on 18 September 2020; and the Biodiversity Summit on 30 September 2020.

Similarly, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Pradeep Kumar Gyawali will address the high-level meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on October 2 virtually. He will also address the Ministerial Meetings of LDCs and LLDCs, among others.

On September 24, Nepal will host the virtual meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers traditionally held coinciding with the UNGA, the ministry stated. According to officials at the MoFA, India and Pakistan, the two arch rivals of South Asia, have already confirmed their participation to the meeting. As a current chair of the eight-member regional body, Nepal will ask the SAARC member states to take forward the stalled SAARC process. The regional body's summit has not been held since 2016 due to animosity between India and Pakistan, two of its member states, over the issues of cross-border terrorism.

Other members of the Nepal delegation include Minister for Foreign Affairs Gyawali and senior officials of the Government of Nepal from Kathmandu. Ambassador of Nepal to the United States of America Arjun Kumar Karki, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations in New York Amrit Bahadur Rai and other officials at the Permanent Mission of Nepal will participate at the UNGA virtually/physically as appropriate.

 
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