Jaishankar, Pak's Qureshi in UAE; but there was no meeting

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday coincided his visit to UAE with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi but the two did not meet amid reports of the Gulf nation facilitating ‘functional relationship’ between the two.

On a day-long visit Jaishankar met his UAE counterpart to discuss economic partnership and community welfare among other issues. The two Ministers have been in regular touch over the last few years with UAE emerging as a key partner for India in the region.

The visit though has raised a lot of speculations regarding any meeting with Qureshi and the timing of the two visits. There was no information of any meeting between Jaishankar-Qureshi till this report was filed.


Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE's envoy to Washington, confirmed last week that the Gulf nation had played a role "in bringing the Kashmir escalation down and created a ceasefire, hopefully".

"They might not, sort of, become best friends but at least we want to get it to a level where it's functional, where it's operational, where they are speaking to each other... that's our goal," he added, in an online talk with Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

According to a report in Reuters, in January, top security officers from India and Pakistan held secret talks in Dubai.

While UAE and Pakistan do not share old bonds, Abu Dhabi does not want Islamabad to sway away towards Turkey in particular. Pakistan too, cannot afford economic isolation from the UAE due to its heavy dependence on their grants, foreign remittances, and trade. Islamabad is grappling with the issue of sinking economy and radicalism.

Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said, “We welcome third-party facilitation but, no matter what friends say, the initiative has to be indigenous. The political will has to be demonstrated by leadership of India and Pakistan. They can be suggestive and facilitators but, ultimately, it is the people of South Asia who have to decide what kind of future they visualise for posterity. Pakistan would appreciate anyone and everyone, including the UAE, playing a positive and constructive role.”

“The UAE has a large Pakistan and Indian diaspora. It recognises that Indians and Pakistanis have contributed to the development of the UAE and it has good relations with both. We are happy with the role it can play,” he said during an interview in Dubai on Sunday.

Qureshi is currently on a three-day visit to the UAE and claimed that he is here in the UAE to discuss bilateral UAE-Pakistan relations only. “I am here for a bilateral visit and not an India-specific agenda. My agenda is UAE-Pakistan and not India-Pakistan,” he said, adding that meeting with the Indian foreign minister is not planned. “I don’t think a meeting is set out with the Indian foreign minister,” he said.

Qureshi pointed out that there are some positive developments taking place between the two countries of late. “For example, the recent recommitment to the 2003 ceasefire understanding is a good development because Kashmiris on both sides were suffering from unprovoked firing. That, in my view, is a positive development.”