Pakistan welcomes India dialogue calls

Pakistan’s Foreign Office used its weekly briefing on May 14 to do two things at once: welcome pro-talk voices in India and push back on suggestions that ties with the United Arab Emirates had been damaged. Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said “voices within India calling for dialogue” were “obviously a positive development” and added that Pakistan hoped “sanity will prevail in India.” (mofa.gov.pk) The India-related remarks matter because they were framed as a response to statements from Indian political and strategic figures advocating engagement rather than confrontation. Reporting cited comments by people including Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor and former RAW chief A.S. Dulat as examples of the Indian voices Islamabad was referring to, though Pakistan’s Foreign Office in the briefing itself spoke more generally about dialogue and “constructive partnerships.” (nation.com.pk) Andrabi paired that opening with a sharper line about recent rhetoric from India. He said Pakistan hoped “warmongering” and “belligerence” seen over recent months and years would “fade away and pave the way for more such voices,” according to the official transcript of the May 14 briefing. That kept Islamabad’s familiar criticism of New Delhi in place even as it publicly endorsed renewed talks. (mofa.gov.pk) The second part of the briefing dealt with the UAE. Dawn reported that the Foreign Office said there was “absolutely no question” that Pakistan’s relationship with Abu Dhabi had suffered because of the UAE’s external engagements, rejecting what it described as negative aspersions about the bilateral relationship. The paper said the Foreign Office also stressed the commercial and strategic weight of the relationship. (dawn.com) That denial came against the backdrop of repeated public discussion in Pakistan this year about Gulf financing and official ties with the UAE. In April, Pakistan’s Foreign Office had already rejected what it called “misleading and unfounded commentary” about UAE financial deposits, saying the matter involved a “routine transaction.” (dawn.com) Taken together, the May 14 comments show Islamabad trying to present diplomatic steadiness on two fronts: with India, by saying it is receptive to dialogue if Indian opinion shifts; and with the UAE, by insisting that a key Gulf relationship remains intact. That last point is an inference from the way the two issues were handled in the same official briefing, rather than a phrase used by the Foreign Office itself. (mofa.gov.pk) The next place to watch is Pakistan’s subsequent Foreign Office briefings and any public response from India’s government or the Indian figures whose remarks were cited in coverage on May 15. Pakistan’s official transcript for May 14 is on the Foreign Office website, while Dawn and the Economic Times carried the two strands of the briefing in separate reports. (mofa.gov.pk)