“High-Level General Debate,” began at the UN General Assembly today, with individual speeches by heads of state or foreign ministers, and will go on through Sept. 27. There is also a very large number of side meetings taking place among attending diplomats, which are considered to be of great importance. The Foreign Ministers of Russia, China, and India have large numbers of side meetings planned—India’s Dr. S. Jaishankar has at least 50 during an 11-day stay, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has at least 20 requests for one-on-one meetings.
Between yesterday and today, Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi has held meetings with his counterparts from Nicaragua, Cuba, Pakistan, France and Ethiopia, and has many more planned. In addition, today he hosted a meeting of the “Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative,” whose members now number sixty. Wang will also attend the meeting of the BRICS nations’ foreign ministers, along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, external affairs ministers Dr. S. Jaishankar of India, Naledi Pandor of South Africa, and Carlos Franco Franca of Brazil. As the BRICS rotating chair for 2023, South Africa will host the meeting.
Wang’s meetings also include the dialogue of the foreign ministers of the leadership quartet of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and a group meeting with the foreign ministers of the Troika of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
