Click to play videoNew York: On the sidelines of his United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will also be meeting the new Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari.
The meet will be held in New York on Wednesday as a part of Singh’s high-level diplomatic engagements during his visit to the US.
In light of the recent terror attacks in India, the Prime Minister is likely to convey a strong message to Zardari to put an end to cross-border terror and ceasefire violations that have cast a shadow on bilateral ties.
This meet will also be an opportunity for Manmohan Singh to gauge Zardari's position in Pakistan.
In the wake of blast in Islamabad's Marriott hotel, this meeting will also be closely watched by Washington.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be addressing the UN assembly after a gap of two years.
Singh has a busy schedule for the 62nd session of the UN assembly. These meetings with world leaders are crucial as they are the first ones after India secured the crucial NSG waiver at Vienna.
Apart from a meet with US president George W Bush, meetings on similar lines will also be held with and Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and the British prime minister Gordon Brown.
Singh is also due to meet the president of World Bank, Robert Zoellick.
But all eyes are on the meeting at the Oval office in Washington on Thursday.
Bush will host a working dinner at the Old Family Dining room at the White House.
The Foreign Relations Committee of the US Senate has passed the Indo-US nuclear deal and now it progresses to the US Senate and the Congress.
There are growing fears that with the session about to end, the US Congress may have little time to ratify the 123 Agreement, which is the last leg of the tortuous journey the deal has been through.
But that is express reason of the Prime Minister’s working visit to the US.
(With inputs from PTI)
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