UAE, Saudi FMs arrive in Pakistan to discuss Kashmir issue

Islamabad [Pakistan]: Foreign Ministers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, respectively, arrived here on Wednesday to discuss the Kashmir issue that has been persistently internalised by Pakistan since India changed the constitutional status of the region.

Giving an update on the arrival of the foreign delegates, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi took to Twitter saying that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir will be discussed as the EU Parliament, along with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), “calls for an end to the curfew” in the region.

During the one-day visit, Al Nahyan and Al-Jubeir will hold meetings with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, reported The Express Tribune.

The Saudi Foreign Minister had earlier visited Pakistan in March as part of Riyadh’s efforts to de-escalate tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad that had emerged in the aftermath of the airstrike conducted by Indian Air Force at Balakot.

Showing the so-called solidarity with the Kashmiris on its part, Pakistan has reached out to numerous countries, including the Middle East, and China, ever since the Indian Parliament last month revoked Article 370 and Article 35 (A) of the Indian Constitution that accorded special status to the region.

However, the cash-strapped country has been repeatedly snubbed by the international community over its efforts after New Delhi time and again denied any third party interference in the issue, calling it to be a “strictly internal” matter of the country.

Instead of addressing pressing issues like struggling economy, rising inflation, and poverty, Pakistanis have been concentrating more on Kashmir, with the Foreign Minister himself apprising the United Nations over the matter more than thrice in a month.

Qureshi wrote, “Have been reaching out to 2-4 FMs every day to keep the world updated about the daily atrocities and worsening conditions” in Jammu and Kashmir, adding, “The humanitarian crisis unfolding has caught the world’s attention.”

The news of the Foreign Minister’s visit came after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan dialled Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of Islamabad’s nefarious designs to deflect the regional developments amid the ongoing tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad over the Kashmir issue.

Pakistan is also looking forward to raising the Kashmir issue during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York next month.