Nawaz says he is looking forward to meeting Singh ANWAR IQBAL and MASOOD HAIDER

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 25: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that he was looking forward to his meeting with his Indian counterpart later this week and hoped that the talks would help improve relations between the two neighbours. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh confirmed his plan to meet Mr Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Sept 29. “I will be very happy to meet him (Singh) and we hope to pick up the threads from where we left in 1999,” Mr Sharif told reporters at the UN building. In 1999, Mr Sharif had invited then Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Lahore and the visit, dubbed as “bus yatra” by India, raised hopes of a rapprochement between the two neighbours. An armed conflict in the Kargil region of Kashmir, however, dashed hopes for peace. Mr Sharif reiterated his resolve for promoting peace with India when reporters asked him to comment on the Indian prime minister’s confirmation of the Sept 29 meeting. In a statement issued before his departure for the US, Mr Singh said: “I also look forward to bilateral meetings with the leaders of some of our neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.” Mr Singh will meet US President Barack Obama in Washington on Sept 27 before coming to New York to address the UN General Assembly. Although the Pakistanis have not yet outlined the agenda for the Sharif-Singh meeting, Indian officials have said the issue of terrorism would figure prominently in the talks. Pakistani officials, however, underlined Mr Sharif’s commitment to improving ties with India, pointing out that despite a downturn in ties after LoC clashes, the prime minister had been pushing for a meeting with Singh in New York. Meanwhile, Mr Sharif continued his meetings with world leaders on his third day at the UN General Assembly, although he also caused speculations by skipping the US president’s reception for world leaders. President Barack Obama hosted his annual reception for world leaders on Tuesday evening before returning to Washington after a busy day at the UN. Although all eyes were focused on President Hassan Rouhani, as many expected him to attend the reception, some media outlets also noted that the Iranian leader was not the only dignitary who failed to show up. The Pakistani prime minister was also absent. The prime minister’s media team, when asked to explain why Mr Sharif skipped Mr Obama’s reception, said he had other engagements. Mr Sharif, however, did meet other world leaders and, according to Pakistani officials who briefed the media, the meetings focused on the country’s energy and economic needs. In his meeting with the Iranian president, the prime minister also discussed the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project, which was initiated by the PPP government. “The project is not stalled, it is going on,” said a senior Foreign Office official while briefing Pakistani journalists. “Cooperation in the energy sector serves both the countries.” He said the finance ministry was aware of the difficulties it might face in raising money for the project, which was opposed by the United States, and was working to overcome those problems. “It is our understanding that US sanctions do not apply to this project; this is our legal assessment,” said the official when asked if the project could trigger US sanctions on Pakistan. Prime Minister Sharif and President Rouhani also agreed that Afghanistan’s neighbours should work closely with the Afghan government and support an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led political process.