Terrorism, economic slowdown, expansion in the UN Security Council and unrest in West Asia and North Africa will be focus of the Prime Minister’s speech to the UN General Assembly on Saturday. Dr. Manmohan Singh arrived in New York on Thursday on a five day visit. A high level delegation including the External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai are accompanying him. Dr. Singh will also deliberate on the issue of UN reforms particularly the expansion in the Security Council after he speaks about the role played by India since being elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council after a gap of 19 years. He is set to hold bilateral meetings with the Presidents of Iran, South Sudan and Sri Lanka, and the prime ministers of Japan and Nepal. Issues of mutual importance and international developments are expected to figure in the talks.In his departure statement, the Prime Minister asserted this is the time for UN to resume its global leadership role. He called upon all countries to collectively address the multiple global challenges saying, it is imperative to act in concert for the purpose. He added that the UN General Assembly is meeting this year at a time when the world is faced with multiple challenges. The global economy is in the midst of an economic slowdown coupled with all its attendant problems, including inflationary pressures. Dr. Singh also said terrorism and non-traditional threats to international security, such as piracy, are threatening states and international political and social order and called for collective action to address all these issues.