NEW YORK: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is likely to meet US President Barack Obama on Sept 24 on the sidelines of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
He is also scheduled to meet his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh on Sept 29. Mr Singh will travel to New York from Washington after an official visit and talks with President Obama ahead of his UN visit.
Mr Singh is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Sept 29 ahead of his meeting with Mr Sharif, according to a UN listing which could change.
Last month US Secretary of State John Kerry invited Prime Minister Sharif to meet President Obama.
“To ensure that we continue our important bilateral conversation at the highest levels I have extended on behalf of the president of the United States an invitation to Prime Minister Sharif to meet the president at a bilateral meeting with him in the United States this fall,” Mr Kerry told reporters in Islamabad.
However, most Pakistani diplomats at the country’s UN mission are tight- lipped about the meeting except saying that there could be a handshake at the reception to be hosted by Mr Obama for world leaders on Sept 24.
The Manmohan-Nawaz meeting on which a tentative agreement was announced on Friday is going to be more than an 'ice breaker’ between the two leaders, diplomats here said.
Mr Sharif is expected to head a small delegation, Pakistan’s representative to the UN Masood Khan said. It will include Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif, former Ambassador Tariq Fatimi and Foreign Secretary Jaleel Abbas Jilani.
