Sushma Swaraj to meet Pakistan Foreign Minister on the sidelines of UNGA in New York

New Delhi, Sep 20 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will meet her counterpart in Pakistan Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly in New York. Affirming the advancement, Ministry of External Affairs representative Raveesh Kumar stated: "I can affirm that on the demand of the Pakistani side, a gathering among EAM and Pakistani remote priest will occur on the sidelines of the UNGA at a mutually convenient date and time."

The acceptance of the meeting comes hours after a letter by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for Prime Minister Narendra Modi was reported. In the letter, the Pakistani PM had called for a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two nations to improve ties between the neighbouring nations.

"Building on the mutual desire for peace between our two nations, I wish to propose a meeting between Foreign Minister, Makhdoom Shah Qureshi and the External Affairs Minister Ms Sushma Swaraj, before the casual gathering of the SAARC Foreign Ministers at the sidelines of the forthcoming UN General Assembly in New York. They can investigate the path forward, particularly the holding of the SAARC Council of clergymen taken after by the SAARC Summit in Islamabad. The summit will offer an open door for you to visit Pakistan and for us to restart the slowed down exchange process," Imran said in his letter.

On whether the issue of opening the Kartarpur corridor will come up for discussion in the talks, Kumar said that the issue will be raised. "Even now after so many years, we don't have any official communication from Pakistani government that they're willing to consider this issue. EAM will therefore raise this issue in her meeting with the Pakistan Foreign Minister," he said.

India has been demanding to open a corridor to Pakistan to enable travellers to visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan's Narowal region. Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu had after his recent visit to Pakistan said that Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had revealed to him that they are thinking about to open Kartarpur passageway on the event of 550th birthday celebration commemoration of Guru Nanak Dev. In any case, Pakistan on Wednesday said that no such 'formal' proposition is under its thought.