Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York later this month, amid escalating trade tensions between India and the United States.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will represent India at the high-level annual session, which is scheduled to take place from September 23 to 29.
A list of speakers released by the United Nations had included both PM Modi and US President Donald Trump. India is slated to address the Assembly on the morning of September 27, but with Modi skipping the event, Jaishankar will deliver India’s address.
The decision comes after Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff last month on India over its continued imports of Russian oil — taking the overall tariff rate to 50%. New Delhi has condemned the move as “unjustified and unreasonable” and stated that India will take “all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.”
The UNGA session, considered the busiest diplomatic season of the year, will take place against the backdrop of major global conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war and the Ukraine-Russia war, making this year’s meeting particularly significant.
Modi had last visited the US in February 2025 for a bilateral meeting with Trump, where both leaders announced plans to negotiate the first part of a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall 2025. However, the fresh tariff measures have cast a shadow over India-US relations.
