'Terroristan' Pakistan & climate change likely to be Swaraj's focus in UN address

In her second consecutive United Nations address, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will not only seek demolish Pakistan's Kashmir narrative but also talk about range of other issues.

A day after India's bold and blunt statement at the United Nations terming Pakistan as 'Terroristan', the Union Minister is expected to take the it forward and unmask Islamabad's doublespeak on extremism.

Swaraj is listed 7th in the list of speakers of the United Nations General Assembly debate that would begin at 6.30 pm (India time).

On an average, a speaker addresses the general assembly for 10 minutes, but most of the time leaders take more time than that.

When the 65-year-old leader takes the podium she would be addressing the UN General Assembly in Hindi like the last year.

The External Affairs Minister is expected to raise issues like the global fight against terrorism, climate change and the Security Council's reform in her address.

Swaraj, who arrived in New York last Sunday, spent a major part of her day on Friday giving final touches to her speech, in which if there is any indication, based on her remarks at other multilateral forums and bilateral meetings, among other things is expected to include fight against terrorism, reform of the UNSC, climate change and an emerging India's role and responsibilities in the 21st century.

On Friday, Swaraj had only one bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during which she raised the issue of terrorism and H-1B.

They also discussed strengthening of the US-India political and economic partnership.

In all, the External Affairs Minister had as many as 27 bilateral meetings with her foreign counterparts.

Swaraj attended 12 multilaterals and two trilateral meetings.

"Our goals are broad. They are global in nature. Some of them are inspirational. There are some of them where we are working for several years and there are some where we hope to have an outcome this year," Syed Akbaruddin, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, told Indian reporters last week.

In addition to the reform of the United Nations, in particular that of the Security Council, Akbaruddin said that issues of climate change, terrorism, people-centric migration and peacekeeping are other key focus areas for India this year.

Indian officials remained tight-lipped on the content of Swaraj s speech.

However, her speech is expected to be reflective of the mood of a new India.