New Delhi:
US President Donald Trump will meet Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on September 23 and will hold a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York on September 24. This will be Trump’s second meeting with PM Modi after he joins the prime minister for the mega “Howdy Modi” event in Houston tomorrow. Both the meetings with the leaders of India and Pakistan would be held in New York on the side lines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.
On Monday (September 23), the first day of his stay in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, Trump’s first event will be the global call to protect religious freedom, the official said, describing it as a key event.
“After that the President is scheduled to meet with the following leaders. Prime Minister Khan of Pakistan, President (Andrzej Sebastian) Duda of Poland, Prime Minister (Jacinda) Arden of New Zealand, Prime Minister Lee (Hsien Loong) from Singapore, President al Sisi of Egypt and President Moon of S Korea,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
On Tuesday (September 24), Trump will deliver his address to the UN General Assembly. After that, he will hold a number of bilateral meetings.
“Prime Minister (Boris) Johnson of United Kingdom, Prime Minister Modi of India, the UN Secretary General,” the official said, adding that the president will also meet his Iraqi counterpart and end the day with a diplomatic reception.
For Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, it would be first UNGA session since he assumed office in August 2018. He is also scheduled to hold talks with world leaders and apprise them about the tense situation in Kashmir after India revoked the region’s special status on August 5. This would be Khan’s second visit to the US.
In July, PM Khan held a one-on-one meeting with Trump during which he offered to be the “mediator” between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.
Trump, who is known to make inaccurate statements, had claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate on the Kashmir issue.
However, the Indian government had denied President Trump’s astonishing claim that Modi had asked him to mediate.
Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after India abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories, evoking strong reactions from Pakistan.
India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was an internal matter and also advised Pakistan to accept the reality.
