Sushma arrives in New York to attend UNGA meet

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will be meeting her US and Japanese counterparts. This assumes significance in the light of China’s muscle-flexing in the region.
She is expected to hold about 20 bilateral and trilateral meetings with leaders attending the session.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived here on Monday to represent India at the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session with a packed schedule of super diplomacy among an array of world leaders.

During her week-long stay, Ms. Swaraj, leading a high-powered Indian delegation, is expected to hold about 20 bilateral and trilateral meetings with leaders attending the session.

She was received at the airport by the Indian Ambassador to the United States Navtej Sarna, and India’s permanent Representative to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin.

Ms. Swaraj would kick off her official engagement later in the day with a trilateral meeting with her American and Japanese counterparts Rex Tillerson, and Taro Kono respectively.

Aimed at lending momentum to cooperation among the three countries, the meeting also turns significant amid China flexing its muscles in the region.

In a day jam-packed with consecutive meetings, Ms. Swaraj will also participate in a high-level meeting on UN reforms, hosted by the US and chaired by president Donald Trump.

India is among the 120 countries who have supported the reform efforts of the UN Secretary General.

India has said that the UN reforms need to be “broad-based and all-encompassing” and the changes should not be restricted to its Secretariat only.

In a preview of the Ms. Swaraj’s engagements during her week-long stay in the US, Akbaruddin had said that issues of climate change, terrorism, people centric migration and peacekeeping are other key focus areas for India this year. She will also participate in a special panel of selected countries by the UN Secretary General on climate action, he said earlier.

Ms. Swaraj will address the UNGA on September 23.

The Minister is scheduled to have a series of meetings on Monday including that with Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics and her Bolivian counterpart Fernando Huanacuni Mamani.

Mr. Akbaruddin in an interaction with Indian reporters ruled out a bilateral meeting between Ms. Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart.

However, the two leaders are likely to see each other during several multilateral meetings including that of SAARC and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Swaraj is scheduled to leave for India, a day after her address to the UN General Assembly.