Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan’s September 22–28 visit to New York combines a national statement at the 81st UN General Assembly with meetings focused on small states, regional diplomacy and the future of the UN. His general-debate statement is scheduled for September 26; its specific positions should be judged from the speech itself, not inferred from last year’s remarks.
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His scheduled engagements
- General debate: Deliver Singapore’s national statement on September 26.
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- Events he will host: A Global Governance Group ministerial meeting and a reception for the Forum of Small States.
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- Meeting he will co-chair: An ASEAN–Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers’ meeting.
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- Meeting he will attend: A high-level ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.
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Balakrishnan has also reported co-chairing a roundtable with Ghana and Germany called “Renewal and Focus: the UN We Need Five Years from Now.” That is a reported activity, rather than another engagement to treat as still forthcoming.
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An Asia Society speech is part of the agenda described for the visit, but the available source excerpts do not establish its date, title or subject. Those details should not be guessed.
Why the agenda matters for Singapore
The assembly is meeting amid wars, geopolitical divisions, climate pressures and rapid developments in AI. Its stated theme is restoring trust and managing transformation so the UN can deliver for all.
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28 Against that backdrop, Balakrishnan’s small-state events and UN-renewal roundtable have a clear connection to the case he made at the previous General Assembly—but they do not establish what he will say on September 26.
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In his 2025 national statement, Balakrishnan argued that multilateralism grounded in international law remained the best route to peace and prosperity, particularly for small states. He also called for a more representative UN and restraint in the use of Security Council vetoes.
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38 The 2026 meetings offer venues to pursue those priorities through diplomacy; whether this year’s statement advances new proposals remains to be seen.
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