External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will meet her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week.
"I can confirm that, on the request of the Pakistani side, a meeting between EAM and Pakistan foreign minister will take place on the sidelines of the UNGA at a mutually convenient date and time," said foreign ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.
He said Swaraj will also participate in the SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) foreign ministers' meeting. The first day of the high-level UNGA debate will begin on September 25, and will last for nine working days.
The announcement came after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries.
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"Building on the mutual desire for peace between our two countries, I wish to propose a meeting between Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Qureshi and the External Affairs Minister Ms Sushma Swaraj, before the informal meeting of the SAARC foreign ministers on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York," Khan had written in his letter.
Kumar, however, said this would just be a meeting and not the resumption of dialogue. "Let's distinguish between meeting and dialogue. This doesn't change our stand on terrorism," he said.
India also rejected Imran Khan's proposal for a SAARC summit in Pakistan, saying the atmosphere is not conducive. The bilateral ties between the two countries suffered a major setback after a spate of attacks in India by Pakistan-based terror groups.
