PM Narendra Modi addresses the United Nations General Assembly (Agence France-Presse photo)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a special summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Saturday. The four leaders form what is known as the G-4 group - countries which back each other's bid for permanent seats at the UN Security Council, a powerful world body.
Here are the latest developments:
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, PM Modi today pitched for the reform of the UN Security Council. "We must reform the United Nations including its Security Council so that it carries greater credibility and legitimacy," he said.
India is making a strong bid for a permanent seat in an expanded Security Council, which currently has five members -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
PM Modi asserted that global challenges like climate change and sustainable development are the collective responsibility of all nations. He said it was also important to talk about climate justice.
The PM asked developed nations to fulfil their responsibility of sharing technology, innovation and finances with developing countries. "The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is the bedrock of our enterprise for a sustainable world," he said.
PM Modi emphasised that poverty eradication and skill development are top priorities of his government. "We are all dreaming of a world that is free from poverty," he said.
In his speech, he talked of Indian traditions and values. "I come from a land where the Earth is our mother. We are her sons," the PM said. He ended his address with a Sanskrit shloka that says, "May all be happy, may all be healthy, may all see welfare, may no one have any sorrow."
The PM also had a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders -- including Jordan's King Abdullah II, Bhutan Prime Minister Tsheing Tobgay, Sri Lankan President Mathripala Sirisena and Stefan Lofven, Prime Minister of Sweden. Earlier in the day, he met World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.
He also met the members of the Indian community in New York.
On Day 1 in New York, PM Modi had focused on business, hosting 42 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies with an estimated collective net worth of 4.5 trillion dollars, for dinner at the New York hotel he is staying in.
On Saturday, PM Modi heads to the West Coast, the first Indian Prime Minister in 33 years to visit the Silicon Valley. He will attend a townhall at the Facebook headquarters and will visit the Google campus. Later on Sunday, he will interact with the Indian community at the SAP Centre in San Jose.
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