NEW YORK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will cap an eventful week-long visit to the US, marked by two interactions with President Donald Trump, with an address to the UN General Assembly on Friday a short while before his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan.
Modi resolutely focused on positioning India as a key player in a changing global order in the face of repeated attempts by Pakistan to internationalize the Kashmir issue in the aftermath of New Delhi’s August 5 decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and reorganize the state into two Union Territories.
Though Modi launched a veiled attack on Pakistan for sponsoring and supporting terrorism against India while sharing the stage with Trump at the “Howdy, Modi!” event in Houston on Sunday, even calling for a “decisive battle” against terror, he has used most of his bilateral and multilateral meetings and other engagements in New York to highlight India’s role in tackling global challenges such as climate change and to pitch the country as a trade and investment destination to America’s top companies.
Modi will address the UN General Assembly on Friday morning and Khan is expected to make his speech shortly thereafter. People familiar with developments said India will exercise its “right of reply” to respond to Khan’s address, which is expected to focus on the Kashmir issue.
(Agencies)
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