New York: With the spotlight likely to be on terror during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session beginning next week, Indian officials were on September 20 giving final touches to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's address, which is expected to tell the international community to avoid double standards and put up a united fight against the scourge.

Ahead of his September 25 address, Vajpayee will meet US President George W Bush on September 23, but will have no interaction with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf who will speak at the UNGA on September 24.

Vajpayee, who arrived in New York on a weeklong visit from Turkey, is expected to have meetings with several world leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Prime Minister has come out strongly against "double standards" adopted by some western countries in dealing with terrorism.

Officials said terrorism would be among the key issues during deliberations at the UNGA, as also in his meetings with world leaders.

With uncertainty still looming large over the US draft resolution for stationing a multilateral force in Iraq following divisions in UN Security Council members, the issue is expected to be hotly debated.

The West Asia crisis and the situation in Afghanistan are expected to be high on Vajpayee's agenda during his parleys with the world leaders, officials said.

Vajpayee is the only Indian Prime Minister to address the UN General Assembly for five consecutive years.

Although India will continue its balancing act on the West Asia front, Vajpayee is likely to convey to the world community New Delhi's opposition to any Israeli move to expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from the West Bank.

The role and relevance of UN in the light of the Iraq developments is another issue that is likely to be discussed.

Another area of concern to India is resurgence of Taleban in Afghanistan, which is likely to be reflected in the discussions, the officials said.

Vajpayee, who is leading a high-level delegation, may also use the occasion to focus on serious concerns of developing countries on international trade including agriculture and Singapore issues which came under spotlight during the just-concluded Cancun World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial that collapsed due to sharp differences with developed nations.

In his address to the General Assembly, Vajpayee is likely to stress the role of multilateralism in dealing with Iraq situation and to call for wider role for the United Nations in the political and humanitarian fields.

PTI