Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met up with foreign ministers of various countries who had come to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level session. On September 23 he had informal meetings with nearly a dozen of them individually, discussing a range of topics from development and cooperation to Europe’s strategy and the Ukraine conflict. In addition, there were others who attended the high-level meeting of ‘Like-Minded Global South Countries’ that Jaishankar convened.
As India and the European Union are trying to forge closer cooperation, he met Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the foreign minister of Denmark, who holds the presidency, to discuss India-EU cooperation. In a post on X, Jaishankar said that he “valued his (Rasmussen’s) insights on latest developments in Europe and the Ukraine conflict.” The Netherlands Foreign Minister David van Weel and he discussed “European strategic positioning and India’s approach”, the EAM said on X. Two foreign ministers from South Asia were also on Jaishankar’s roster.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said on X that at his meeting with Jaishankar, they reaffirmed “the strong friendship and close cooperation” between their countries. Jaishankar said they “reviewed the progress of our bilateral cooperation”. After his meeting with Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel, Jaishankar posted, “Our support to Maldives’ development remains steadfast”. With Mauritius Foreign Minister Dhananjay Ritish Ramful, Jaishankar said on X that he discussed following up on the recent “successful” state visit of Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam to India.
