Sushma Swaraj set to come face-to-face with Pak FM Khawaja Asif at UNGA

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif are set to come face-to-face in New York next week where both are expected to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit and the SAARC group meetings, on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Apart from the SCO Summit and the SAARC group meetings, Swaraj will also participate in as many as 15 bilateral meetings, including the G77 meeting, the SU meeting, the G4 meeting and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) meeting.

Speaking to ANI, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "The EAM has a programme of seven to eight days. She will be reaching here tomorrow. The programme will start from Monday. The highlight of her visit is known to everyone - her speech at the U.N. Assembly will be in the morning of September 23. We have arranged many bilateral meetings, regional meetings and trilateral meetings. As far as I know, there will be at least 15-20 bilateral meetings. Apart from this, in the trilateral and the regional meetings, there will be a G77 meeting, an SU meeting and a G4 meeting, and also a BRICS meeting. And in all these meetings, the EAM will participate."

When asked if there is any bilateral planned with Pakistan, Kumar said he has no knowledge about it.

"But like I have told if in the regional meetings the Pakistan Foreign Minister is present, then in this context, it can happen, but I have no knowledge of the bilateral meeting," he added.

Sushma Swaraj will arrive in New York on September 17 for seven days of back-to-back engagements centring around the U.N. General Assembly, including her first meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.