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Jaishankar tells UNGA India will exercise its right to defend itself against terrorism
4 updates, 21 September 2026 to 27 September 2026.
- 21 September 2026:
EAM Jaishankar to lead India's delegation at 81st UNGA, address high level session on 26 September
The Ministry of External Affairs announced on 20 September 2026 that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will lead India's delegation to the United States for the high level week of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, running from 22 to 28 September in New York. Jaishankar is scheduled to address the General Debate on 26 September and will hold a series of bilateral and plurilateral meetings on the sidelines of the session. The visit follows India's recent run of multilateral engagement, including hosting the BRICS Summit in New Delhi earlier in September.
- 22 September 2026:
Jaishankar discusses Ukraine, Gulf and Indo-Pacific with EU and Indo-Pacific counterparts at UNGA
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a joint meeting with European Union foreign ministers and Indo-Pacific counterparts on the margins of the high level week of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York on 22 September 2026. Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said the ministers discussed cooperation between Europe and the Indo-Pacific to defend the fundamental principles of international law, alongside the situation in the Gulf, Ukraine and the wider Indo-Pacific. Foreign ministers from the Indo-Pacific region, including Australia's Penny Wong and South Korea's Cho Hyun, also joined the discussion, which touched on developing a common framework for artificial intelligence. The meeting came as Jaishankar leads India's delegation through the UNGA's high level General Debate week, ahead of his own address scheduled for 26 September.
- 23 September 2026:
Jaishankar opens UNGA push for India's 2028-29 UN Security Council bid as Tajikistan mounts a rival Asia-Pacific candidature
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar began a packed schedule of engagements in New York within hours of arriving for the 81st UN General Assembly's high level week, meeting Foreign Ministers of France, Ecuador, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Moldova and Switzerland on 21 September 2026, besides joining the newly launched Partnership for Multilateralism grouping as an additional co-sponsor alongside Australia and Barbados. His central task this year is building support for India's election to a non-permanent UN Security Council seat for the 2028-2029 term. India has been elected to the Security Council eight times, on most occasions as the sole nominee put forward by the Asia-Pacific group, but Tajikistan has now also launched a candidature for the same seat, turning the election into a contest unless the two countries can reach a compromise. Jaishankar is expected to remain in New York through the week, addressing the General Assembly on 26 September.
- 27 September 2026:
Jaishankar tells UNGA India will exercise its right to defend itself against terrorism
Addressing the General Debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on 26 September 2026, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India would exercise its right to defend itself against terrorism and called for a strict zero tolerance approach, referring to a country he called a serial practitioner of terrorism that had misrepresented facts before the Assembly a day earlier. On West Asia, he said India believed a durable peace required a Two State solution and highlighted India's humanitarian assistance to Palestinians. He described the Global South as facing a four F crisis of food, fuel, fertiliser and finance security, and said India's development partnerships spanned 600 projects across 78 countries.