The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has claimed that it is mediating between India and Pakistan.
This was revealed by top UAE diplomat Al Otaiba.
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This is the first official confirmation of the UAE trying to bring India and Pakistan to talking terms.
Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba said: “We try to be helpful, where we have influence with two different countries, so India-Pakistan was the most recent one.”
“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,” he said.
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He said that the UAE played a 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”.
According to reports, top intelligence officers from India and Pakistan held secret talks in Dubai in January in a new effort to calm military tension over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.
Notably, ties between India and Pakistan are at an all-time low following the deadly Pulwama attack in Kashmir Valley in 2019 by a Pakistan-based terror outfit.
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Over 40 paramilitary personnel of India were martyred in the attack.
India avenged the Pulwama attack by sending warplanes deep into Pakistan territory, striking terror outfits bases at Balakot in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
But a series of initiatives this year suggests serious efforts at resuming dialogue between the two nuclear-armed rivals are ongoing.
In fact, in February this year, armies of both the nations announced a sudden and rare reaffirmation of a 2003 ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border dividing the Kashmir region between the two nations.
Reports say that New Delhi and Islamabad have been “carefully optimistic” of the steps taken in recent months.
The February announcement to adhere to the ceasefire pact, the Indus Water Treaty talks in March after over two years, and demands within Pakistan to import cotton and sugar from India have made the two sides look at the next steps of engagement.