Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi begins official visit to Colombia, New York

New York, September 4

Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi arrived here as she begins her official visit to Colombia and New York during which she will participate in a UN Security Council meeting on peacekeeping and interact with members of the Indian diaspora.

Lekhi will first travel to Colombia from September 4-6 where she will call on the country’s top leadership and hold bilateral discussions with Vice President and Foreign Minister Marta Lucia Ramirez and exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.

During her visit to New York from September 7-9, Lekhi will participate in the Security Council Ministerial Open Debate on ‘Transitions’ under the agenda item ‘United Nations Peacekeeping Operations’ that will be convened on September 8 under the Council’s Irish Presidency.

“During the visit to NY, I will participate in the UNSC Open Debate on ‘Transitions’ under the agenda item ‘United Nations Peacekeeping Operations’. I will also interact with members of the Indian community,” Lekhi tweeted on Friday as she arrived here to begin her first overseas visit as Minister of State to Colombia and New York.

She is expected to meet with senior UN leadership and interact with the Indian community in New York, in celebration of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.

After her arrival here on Friday, Lekhi addressed a few members of the Indian community at the ‘Jan Aashirwad Abhar’ event organised by Jaipur Foot USA and Gracious Givers Foundation in the city.

In her remarks, Lekhi spoke about the devastation caused around the world by the Covid pandemic which, she said, ravaged even the strongest nations in the world.

Emphasising that Indians have a “very strong character”, she said India and its citizens bravely faced the challenges and emerged from them. PTI