New Delhi: India has said it will use its ‘right to reply' in the United Nations to counter Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's move to rake up the contentious issue of Kashmir in his address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Syed Akbaruddin, said in New York, “India will use the right to reply to set the record straight.”
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his statement in UNGA today in Hindi in a forward looking manner,” he added.
When asked about the possibility of Modi-Sharif meeting in New York, he said, “There is no meeting planned between the Prime Minsters of India and Pakistan.”
The Pakistan Premier on Friday raised up the Kashmir issue at the UNGA and blamed India for ‘another missed opportunity' to address outstanding issues by cancelling the Foreign Secretary-level talks.
Asserting that a ‘veil' cannot be drawn over the ‘core' issue of Kashmir, he said Pakistan was ready to work for resolution of this problem through negotiations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a hectic schedule in US today.
Here goes today's schedule of PM Modi in US:
5.30 PM IST(8 am local time): PM Modi to visit 9/11 Memorial
8 PM IST(10:45 local time): Narendra Modi to address UNGA
9 PM IST(11:30 am onwards local time): At least 3 bilateral meetings of Narendra Modi has been scheduled at New York Palace Hotel. Thereafter, he will head forward to meet Bangladesh Head of State. He will also attend the Global Citizens Festival at Central Park.
3.30 am IST(6pm local time): Modi will give a speech for 15 minutes at Central Park where the Global Citizens Festival has been organised.
