Daily Times

Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM), Sushma Swaraj, is likely to meet her Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in New York next month, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session.

Both the foreign ministers will be present at the 73rd session of the UNGA which will begin on September 18. The development comes days after the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, congratulated Imran Khan on being sworn-in as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Last week, Pakistan signalled that the new PM may not be able to attend the UNGA session in order to cut down government expenses. However, it was reported in the media that the senior Pakistani diplomats urged Mr Khan to reconsider the decision, saying that representing Pakistan was not a waste of funds, particularly on key issues like Kashmir and Afghanistan.

Earlier on August 22, Mr Khan expressed interest with regards to a meeting between the foreign ministers of both the countries, stating that both the India and Pakistan must engage in a composite dialogue to resolve their differences.

Published in Daily Times, August 28^th 2018.