Krishna and Qureshi attend Commonwealth reception

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna attended a reception of Commonwealth countries hosted by Kamla Persad- Bissessar Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago in New York.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi who also attended the reception but didn't have an opportunity to meet Krishna.

"Well there were a number of ministers and I was saying hello to them," Krishna told the media as he left the reception after staying for about 15 minutes. "I couldn't spot my good friend and distinguished foreign minister of Pakistan...Perhaps he already left."
    
Qureshi had indeed left just five minutes before Krishna went into the reception and they seemed to have missed each other by a whisker. But both the ministers appeared to be in relaxed frame of mind and commented on the good weather.
    
"This reception is meant for the commonwealth foreign ministers and I would be delighted to meet him," Krishna said before heading to the Beekman Palace, which is residence of Mark Lyall Grant, the British envoy to the UN.
    
"Let me go in first and feel the atmosphere there," Krishna added, noting that Qureshi's remarks about the weather were "realistic." Qureshi had earlier told the Indian media that weather was "lovely."
    
Krishna also pointed out that there would be several other sessions for the ministers to meet in the coming week since they are both here to attend the opening week of the UN General Assembly.
    
"There are a number of multilateral engagements where we are bound to run into each other," he said.
    
Krishna will be attending a meeting of the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers at the UN today as well as the Non-Aligned Movement meeting.
    
Krishna is also scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a bilateral meeting today, in which both the leaders are expected to discuss President Barack Obama's visit to India in November.