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ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi has left for a three-day official visit to the UAE today.
During the visit, the foreign minister will meet his counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and other UAE dignitaries. He will also meet Pakistani diaspora and interact with local and international media.
According to the Foreign Office, the foreign minister will hold consultations with the UAE’s leadership on all areas of bilateral cooperation including collaboration in trade and investment, job opportunities for Pakistani workforce and the welfare of Pakistani diaspora.
The foreign minister will also discuss regional and global issues of mutual interest. The UAE is home to the second largest Pakistani community abroad.
The Foreign Office said Pakistan and the UAE enjoy strong fraternal ties, rooted deep in common faith and shared history and values. It added that high-level visits between the two countries have played a pivotal role in providing further impetus to strengthening bilateral cooperation and collaboration on a wide range of issues.
READ MORE: India, Pakistan held secret talks in Dubai over Kashmir: Sources
The visit comes amid reports that that UAE is mediating between Pakistan and India to end the animosity between the two countries. A news agency reported that top intelligence officers from India and Pakistan held secret talks in Dubai in January in a new effort to calm military tension over Kashmir.
Officials from India’s Research and Analysis Wing, the external spy agency, and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence travelled to Dubai for a meeting facilitated by the UAE government.
The UAE envoy to Washington confirmed the Gulf state is mediating between India and Pakistan to help reach a “healthy and functional” relationship.
Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba said in a virtual discussion with Stanford University’s Hoover Institution 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”.
“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.
