UAE ‘brokered’ Indo-Pak truce; MEA mum

New Delhi, March 22

A Bloomberg news report has claimed that the India-Pakistan ceasefire marked a milestone in “secret talks brokered” by the UAE that began months earlier.

The report predicted that the next step in repairing bilateral ties would be the reinstatement of two high commissioners. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has not yet responded to the report, although several clues over the past few months pointed at the UAE’s role.

Roadmap to peace?

• The report says the ceasefire is the beginning of a larger roadmap to forge a lasting peace between neighbours
• Next step involves reinstating envoys, followed by ‘hard part’ — talks on resuming trade and a lasting Kashmir resolution

A day after military chiefs from India and Pakistan surprised the world on February 25 with a rare joint commitment to respect a 2003 ceasefire agreement, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah, who then met Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi after a few days. Ties between UAE and India have strengthened during the Modi government to the extent that the former is storing oil in India for use in emergencies.

The report, quoting unnamed officials, said the ceasefire was the beginning of a larger roadmap to forge a lasting peace between the neighbours. The next step involves reinstating envoys followed by the “hard part” — talks on resuming trade and a lasting resolution on Kashmir.

Last week, Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa asked India “to bury the past and move forward”.

Officials, however, said expectations about the current détente achieving much were low.

Nevertheless, in another indication of a thaw, PM Narendra Modi posted a tweet on Saturday, wishing his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan after he was diagnosed with Covid. — TNS (with agency inputs)