Following is the text of the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement before his departure for New York for the 57th UN General Assembly, here today:

~I leave today for the 57th UN General Assembly in New York. My visit coincides with the first anniversary of the brutal terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre and a number of world leaders will be in New York both to honour the memory of the victims of that tragedy and to re-affirm the determination to firmly counter terrorism.

In New York I expect to meet US President Bush and to discuss with him a wide range of bilateral issues. During my visit to USA last November, President Bush and I had agreed on a detailed roadmap for a multifaceted development of our bilateral cooperation process. I hope that this will be carried forward in my discussions with President Bush and in other meetings which the External Affairs Minister and the National Security Advisor will have with their US counterparts.

I will take the opportunity to meet a number of other world leaders and to discuss with them issues of bilateral, regional and global concern. In the present world situation, it is inevitable that the global war against terrorism – as well as our own determined efforts against cross border terrorism – would figure in my various bilateral interactions in New York. Our basic message is that the democracies of the world have a crucial role in countering terrorism together.

As on my past visits to USA, I hope to meet a wide cross section of the community of Indian origin in that country to acquaint myself about the community’s perspectives on developments in India and about its progress and successes in its country of domicile.~