By Reena BhardwajNew York [US], September 21 (ANI): India's Permanent Representative to United Nations TS Tirumurti on Monday said that India is a leading voice for the developing world as well as for the members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Tirumurti said, "There are expectations that India as a leading voice for developing world as well as the member of Security Council will use its voice to take up global issues such as climate change, Sustainable Development Goals, equitable and affordable access to vaccines, poverty eradication and economic recovery, women's empowerment and their participation in government structures, combating terrorism, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, UNSC reforms etc."Tirumurti further reiterated that India has done so before and will continue to do in future.

Discussing upcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the 76th session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 25, he said, "As you know Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the General Debate of the high-level segment of the 76th session of UNGA on September 25th morning. The theme for this year's General Debate is "Building resilience through hope to recover from COVID-19, Rebuild sustainably, Respond to the needs of the planet, Respect the rights of the people and Revitalize the United Nations."The 76th session of UNGA commenced on September 14 and the high-level meet will be starting tomorrow.

This is far from a normal UNGA session as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to cast a shadow on this important annual gathering of world leaders.

As per Tirumurti, "There is a slight improvement in the pandemic situation in the US and also the vaccination measures which has been undertaken. This has allowed the UN to organise the 76th UNGA in a hybrid format."He said that apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, its humanitarian impact, other issues may dominate the 76th UNGA like the global economic slowdown, and financing for development, terrorism and related issues, climate change, ongoing conflicts going internationally, recent developments in Afghanistan, UNSC reform etc.

"PM Modi's speech is one of the most awaited among the world leaders. He has always addressed some of the core issues confronting the world, and those of importance and concern to us in India, including some of our achievements on the domestic front," added the Indian envoy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to the United States this week to attend the first in-person Quad Leaders Summit and address the UN general debate.

He will also have a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden. This will be PM Modi's second visit abroad since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. His first such visit was to Bangladesh earlier this year. (ANI)