U Thant, the then UN Secretary General and Chef De Cabinet CV Narasimhan invited MS to sing at the UN which was commemorating the International Co-operation year dedicated to Pt Jawaharlal

Nehru in 1965. But that year the Indo-Pakistan war broke out and MS was unable to go. The following year U Thant sent an invite to the MS, this time requesting her to sing for the delegates

at the General Assembly hall in New York on United Nations Day which falls on October 23. Subbulakshmi and her husband Sadasivam gladly accepted this invite.