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MEA EXCLUSIVE

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 4/19/2021 11:15:52 AM

INDIA, PAK FOREIGN MINISTERS IN UAE; NO INDO-PAK MEET ON CARDS

New Delhi, Apr 18 The Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan are in Abu Dhabi, UAE on separate bilateral visit and engagements with the Emirati leadership. While Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrived on Saturday, External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar will land on Sunday. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said that the focus of the visit was "economic cooperation" and "community welfare" given the huge Indian diaspora there. "At the invitation of his counterpart, EAM @DrSJaishankar will be visiting Abu Dhabi on 18th April 2021. His discussions will focus on economic cooperation and community welfare," he wrote in his tweet. Speculation was rife over an India-Pakistan bilateral on the sidelines of the visit, but a possible meeting between Qureshi and Jaishankar was ruled out by Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan. "No such meeting is scheduled during Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's ongoing visit to the UAE," he said. Ties between India and Pakistan have been frosty since the Pulwama attack in 2019 which further deteriorated leading to both sides downgrading their respective missions in Islamabad and New Delhi by not having a High Commissioner in place.