S Jaishankar In Abu Dhabi, To Discuss Bilateral Economic Cooperation With UAE Counterpart

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who arrived here on Sunday, met his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the two leaders are expected to discuss bilateral economic cooperation and issues of mutual and regional interest.

"Delighted to meet FM @ABZayed. Look forward to our discussions," Mr Jaishankar tweeted.

Interestingly, Mr Jaishankar's visit coincides with the ongoing trip of his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi to the United Arab Emirates amid media reports that the Gulf emirate has been holding back channel talks to restart dialogue between the two neighbours.

Mr Jaishankar earlier paid a two-day visit to the UAE from November 25 to 26 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. During his visit, he had met his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and held discussions on the entire range of bilateral issues.

"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," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted on Saturday.

Mr Jaishankar's current visit to Abu Dhabi comes days after the Emirati ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba said that the UAE played a role in bringing down the tension between India and Pakistan and getting their bilateral ties back to a "healthy functional relationship".

"They might not sort of become best friends but at least we want to get it to a level where it's functional, where it's operational, where they are speaking to each other," al-Otaiba said during a virtual discussion with Stanford University's Hoover Institution on Wednesday.