UNGA Prez to visit India, meet leaders, scientists

UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi is visiting India later this month to meet officials and scientists, according to his Spokesperson Paulina Kubiak.

During his visit starting around January 29, he will also address the Indian Council of World Affairs and visit a water conservation project, Kubiak said on Tuesday.

Korosi has a special interest in development, a key element of his agenda as Head of the General Assembly, and particularly in the water conservation element of it.

Before his election as UN General Assembly President, he was the Environmental Sustainability Director in the Hungarian President's Office and the President's point person at the High-Level Panel on Water co-convened by the UN Secretary-General and the President of the World Bank Group in 2016.

Among the topics expected to figure in Korosi's talks in India are the country's presidency of the G20 group of major industrialised and emerging economies and Security Council reform, a priority for India.

Laying out his priorities for the rest of the Assembly session on Tuesday, he promised to "spare no efforts to facilitate" efforts for reform.

He referred to the failure of the Security Council to act on the Russian invasion of Ukraine to underline the urgency for reform and said, "Let the disappointing lessons we have learned inspire the negotiations on Security Council reform, with the goal of creating a better functioning Council."

In December 2022, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with Korosi in New York and discussed India's G20 presidency and the reform of multilateral institutions.

Korosi, who has been meeting scientists, has emphasised the importance of science in guiding policy and used a vivid phrase, "from microscopes to microphones" to illustrate the need for scientific input before debating.

UN General Assembly Presidents have made it a tradition to visit India for discussions with leaders and top diplomats and the seven predecessors of Korosi -- Abdulla Shahid, Volkan Bozkir, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, Miroslav Lajcak, Peter Thomson, Mogens Lykketoft -- have all made the trip.

From India, Korosi will go to China where he is to meet officials and visit the International Research Centre of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals that supports the UN efforts for reaching development targets, Kubiak said.