India, Pakistan should resolve Kashmir bilaterally, says UAE

United Arab Emirates (UAE), an important Arab country, has suggested “bilateral” resolution of the outstanding issue of Kashmir between India and Pakistan. A top UAE source told India Today that they believe India and Pakistan are “sovereign” countries and that Kashmir should be worked out between them.

“If India and Pakistan work with each other it would be far better for us”, said the source.

The comments come at a time when UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is visiting New Delhi and held substantive talks with his counterpart External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

UAE has tried to balance its ties with both India and Pakistan in the recent past.

An increasing realisation that Pakistan has not done much to tackle the issue of terrorism, UAE government sources told India Today that while they lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overtures towards peace with Pakistan, there isn’t much that Pakistan has done to convince the world that they are sincere.

“I applaud the efforts made by the Prime Minister but it is unfortunate that Pakistan has not made enough efforts in tackling terrorism and radicalisation. We are encouraging Pakistan to do more. We wish to see more efforts from Pakistan but we won’t see that unless Pakistan sees that it is respected and has to gain.”

The source added that not only India and Pakistan but the region has to gain from peace between the two neighbours when he said, “We would regret if India and Pakistan are not able to resolve their differences. We can all gain from peace between the regions.”

Pakistan and India are considered close friends of the UAE. But, UAE insists that neither should be seen through the prism of the other.