After a long run of over 70 years, PM Narendra Modi will become the India’s first Prime Minister to preside over the UNSC meeting, announced Syed Akbaruddin, Indian’s former envoy to UN.

"Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister, who has decided to preside over a meeting of the United Nation Security Council. It shows that leadership wants to lead from the front. It also shows that India and its political leadership are invested in our foreign policy ventures," said Syed Akbaruddin.

India's Presidency will be represented by Ambassador TS Tirumurti, India's Permanent Representative to the UN. Trimurti said,”India will also be organising a solemn event in the memory of peacekeepers.” 

“Although this is a virtual meeting, it's still a first meeting of the sort for us. It is historic. The last time an Indian PM was engaged in this effort was the then PM PV Narasimha Rao in 1992 when he attended a UNSC meeting,” he added.

India will be hosting signature events related to maritime security, peacekeeping, and counterterrorism during the month, taking over the UNSC presidency from France and added that New Delhi will continue to keep the spotlight on counterterrorism.

The council will also have several important meetings on its agenda with representatives from Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, and the other Middle Eastern countries.

Commenting on the issue, both French and Russian Ambassadors have congratulated New Delhi for the new presidency. They applauded India’s agendas and reiterated its commitment to work with India on strategic issues, respectively.

Prime Minister Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla will also chair high-level meetings on topics of global importance, and PM Modi is expected to preside over the meeting of the UN Security Council on August 9.

India joined the UNSC for two years this year in January for the eighth times and this will be India’s first presidency in the UNSC during its 2021-22 tenure as a non-permanent member of the UNSC. It is not hidden that India has been long vouching for a permanent seat in the UNSC, in PM Modi’s leadership.

The first working day of India's presidency will be on Monday, August 2 when Tirumurti Will hold a hybrid press briefing in the UN headquarters on the council’s program of work for the month.