Swaraj leaves meeting mid-way

New York : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj left a meeting of the SAARC foreign ministers early, which was attended by her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi amidst fresh chill in bilateral ties.

Swaraj attended the Informal Meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers held here on the margins of the 73rd UN General Assembly and chaired by Foreign Minister of Nepal Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on Thursday. After making her statement, she left the meeting early, prompting criticism from Qureshi who later told reporters, no I didn't have any talk with her (Swaraj). On the positive gesture, I can say she left the meeting mid-way, may be she was not feeling well. Indian diplomatic sources told that it was quite normal in a multilateral meeting to leave early after one has delivered the country's statement. Swaraj was not the first minister to leave the meeting as her counterparts from Afghanistan and Bangladesh had also left before her.