UAE had played a role in bringing India, Pakistan together: UAE diplomat

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 18

Foreign Ministers of both India and Pakistan landed in Dubai on Sunday but both sides insisted they had left their countries at short notice to separately meet their UAE counterpart and no bilateral between them was planned.

A senior UAE diplomat has owned up to his country’s role in brokering peace between India and Pakistan that began with a ceasefire along the line of control (LoC) in February. But the talks hit a hurdle after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan walked back on his decision to resume partial trade with India.

UAE is the hub of the “bouncing trade” between India and Pakistan estimated at several billions of dollars every year. Goods that are prohibited from being traded between the two countries are sent to UAE where the label of origin is changed to satisfy both sides.

India’s ties with the UAE had improved after the end of the cold war and have now progressed to the point where both sides are considering a defence relationship.  

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s visit was the first to be announced on Saturday. It was followed a few hours later by Jaishankar also announcing his visit. If that appeared like a coincidences, sources insisted it was not.

Earlier UAE’s ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba had said Dubai had played a key role “in bringing Kashmir escalation down and created a ceasefire, hopefully ultimately leading to restoring diplomats and getting the relationship back to a healthy level”.

“They (India and Pakistan) might not sort of become best friends but at least we want to get it to a level where it is functional, where it is operational, where they are speaking to each other,” he had added.

India always insists that all issues of discord with Pakistan are bilateral in nature and there is no scope for mediation. Jaishankar, while speaking extensively at the recent Raisina Dialogue, had skirted the issue.