External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Pakistani peer Shah Mahmood Qureshi would be in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday, whereby, no meeting has been planned between the two leaders, the Ministry said on Saturday. Shortly after Qureshi began a three-day tour to the UAE, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi announced on Twitter that Jaishankar would also visit Abu Dhabi on April 18 at the invitation of his counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
"I am here for a bilateral visit and not an India-specific agenda. My agenda is UAE-Pakistan and not India-Pakistan," The sources familiar to the development quoted Qureshi as saying to media in Dubai on Sunday, a day after reaching the UAE, putting an end to speculations of a possible meeting with Jaishankar.
"I don't think a meeting is set out with the Indian Foreign Minister... We want peace in the region and cordial ties with all our neighbours including India," he added. The Minister welcomed the UAE's mediation in resolving Pakistan's issues with India.
"We welcome third-party facilitation but no matter what friends say, the initiative has to be indigenous," he added.
As per reports, Jaishankar’s Sunday visit is “purely bilateral” and his engagements are “only with UAE dignitaries. He will be discussing some pressing economic and community welfare issues related to Covid-19. His Abu Dhabi visit comes amid evolving geopolitical developments in the Gulf region, particularly in Afghanistan.
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