Krishna heads for UNGA meet with a packed schedule

With 55 bilateral and 14 multilateral meetings,External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will have a hectic time when he attends the 65th UN General Assembly UNGA from September 21 to 30.

It is bound to be hectic,for,he has a crucial agenda in hand hard-selling Indias bid for the non-permanent seat in the Security Council for 2011-12.

Topping the list is a meeting with US President Barack Obama,expected to take place on September 24. The meeting will also be used to discuss preparations for Obamas visit to India in November.

Sources told The Indian Express that South Block is coordinating with 55 countries,including some heads of states and governments,for one-on-one meetings with the minister.

Apart from the bilateral meetings with foreign ministers and presidents,Krishna will attend 14 multilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UNGA.

This includes the SAARC foreign ministers gathering on September 29,G-77 foreign ministers meeting on September 24,as well as those of BRIC,IBSA India,Brazil and South Africa,RIC Russia,India and China and Commonwealth nations.

According to sources,this is the highest number of meetings an Indian minister will have in a short span of 10 days. Last year,there were requests from 32 countries.

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Keen on securing the non-permanent seat,New Delhi will go all-out in the UN as Krishna will make a global appeal in his speech at the General Assembly.

Krishna,according to sources,has already spoken to foreign ministers of 120 countries in the last few months.

We will use this opportunity to pitch for the non-permanent seat as this is the last UNGA before a decision is made for 2011-12, a South Block official said.

New Delhi is quite confident of grabbing the seat in the elections scheduled next month. Sources said the withdrawal of Kazakhstan from the race last January and the intense diplomatic campaigns by New Delhi over the past few months was yielding results.

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If India suceeds,it will find place at the hallowed round table after 19 years. The tenure of this membership begins on January 1,2011.

The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan will also meet on the sidelines of the UNGA at least for multilateral meetings of SAARC and Commonwealth foreign ministers.

Efforts are under way for a pull-aside bilateral as well.