New York [US], September 25 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a meeting with Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. The two leaders affirmed a "strong bilateral relationship." After the meeting, Jaishankar in a post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, stated, "On the sidelines of UNGA78, met with @AraratMirzoyan FM of Armenia. Appreciate his sharing assessment of the current situation in the Caucasus. Affirmed our strong bilateral relationship."Notably, India recognized Armenia in 1991 and India's Ambassador in Moscow was concurrently accredited to Armenia, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. The protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations was signed on 31 August 1992 in Moscow.

Earlier, EAM Jaishankar also met Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konakovic. The two leaders discussed growing bilateral ties with a focus on trade and economy.

Sharing a post on X, Jaishankar stated, "Good meeting with FM Elmedin Konakovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on UNGA78 sidelines. Discussed growing our bilateral ties with a focus on trade and economy."He also met Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Barcena and discussed taking forward the partnership between the two nations with a focus on business, sciencetechnology, education, economy and traditional medicine.

After the meeting, Jaishankar in a post on X, stated, "A real pleasure to meet with Secretary of Foreign Affairs @aliciabarcena of Mexico this morning in New York. Discussed taking forward our Privileged Partnership focusing on business, sciencetechnology, education, economy and traditional medicine. Also exchanged views on the reforming multilateralism and our work together in G20." Notably, EAM Jaishankar is in New York to lead the Indian delegation for the UNGA session where he will address the United Nations General Assembly on September 26, according to an official statement by the Ministry of External Affairs. After concluding his visit to New York, he will travel to Washington, DC.

On Saturday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar along with United Nations General Assembly President Dennis Francis and foreign ministers of other nations attended the India-UN for Global South: Delivering for Development event in New York.

He called India's G20 Presidency challenging due to a "very sharp East-West polarization and a very deep North-South divide." He said that India was very determined to ensure that India's G20 Presidency was able to get back to its core agenda.

In his address at India-UN for Global South: Delivering for Development event in New York, Jaishankar began his speech by speaking about India's G20 Presidency and recently held the G20 Summit.

"Your presence means a lot to us. It also expresses the sentiments that you feel for India and underlines the import of South-South cooperation. We meet just a few weeks after the New Delhi G20 Summit, a summit which took place on the theme of 'One Earth, One Family, One Future," Jaishankar said.

"Now, it was a challenging summit. It was actually a challenging presidency, and it was challenging because we were confronting a very sharp East-West polarization as well as a very deep North-South divide. But we were very determined as the Presidency of the G20 to make sure that this organization on which the world really had put so much hope and was able to get back to its core agenda," he added. (ANI)