India, US, other nations to co-host special meet on tackling drug menace

NEW YORK: India alongwith the United States and other nations will co-host a special meet to tackle drug menace on sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj and US President Donald Trump will be part of the meeting. 

On sidelines of UN General Assembly, Swaraj will also take part in several other top-level meetings including the G4 nations meet comprising of Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan on Tuesday. The EAM will also attend the Non-Aligned Movement meet on Wednesday, September 26 and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), IBSA  (India, Brazil, South Africa) and SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) meetings on Thursday, September 27. She will also hold more than 30 bilateral meets on the sidelines.

The EAM will deliver a statement at the UN General Assembly on Saturday, September 29. 

Swaraj arrived in New York on Sunday for the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. 

The spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs, Raveesh Kumar, tweeted, "Setting the stage for a week of hectic diplomacy! EAM @SushmaSwaraj arrives in New York to attend the 73rd Session of the #UnitedNations General Assembly and participate in several bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral meetings."

Swaraj was also slated to meet her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UNGA. However, after increasing reports of violence on police and army personnel in Jammu and Kashmir, the meeting was called off.