On the eve of their crucial talks, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had a friendly chat with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the sidelines of an informal working dinner of SAARC Foreign Ministers in New York
The 'Informal Ministerial and Working Dinner for SAARC Council of Ministers' was hosted by Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogoallagama, last night in his capacity as the SAARC chairperson.
The working dinner was attended by the Foreign Ministers of all the eight SAARC countries and the grouping's Secretary General Shilkant Sharma as also several Foreign Secretaries, including Nirupama Rao of India.
Krishna and Qureshi were seen warmly greeting each other and informally talking during the course of the working dinner.
One could presume their discussions could have also included the talks between Foreign Secretary Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir, which were held earlier in the day.
The two Foreign Ministers were already briefed on the talks, when they met at a mid-town hotel in Manhattan last night.
In view of the much-anticipated Krishna-Qureshi meeting later tonight, the two were the focus of the working dinner.
Image: SM Krishna with Shah Mahmood Qureshi at the Informal Ministerial and Working Dinner for SAARC Council of Ministers in New York.
Photograph: Jay Mandal/On Assignment
