Today: 11 July 2025
22 October 2021
3 mins read

Dubai deal major success for India: Ex-Pak diplomat

Criticising Prime Minister Imran Khan’s foreign policy, Basit said the MoU has been signed, it’s clear that Pakistan is losing control over the matter…reports Sanjeev Sharma

 Former Pakistani diplomat Abdul Basit said the UAE’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for development projects is a “major success for India”, Geo News reported.

What has made Pakistan more unhappy over the MoU is that the UAE has a powerful presence in the OIC, an alliance of currently 56 countries in which Islam plays a significant role, with Islam as the state religion, or countries where Muslims form the majority of the population, the report said.

Jammu and Kashmir Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha, Minister Piyush Goyal and others with the Dubai delegation

Basit, a former high commissioner of Pakistan to India, said in his YouTube vlog that the details of the pact are not yet known, adding that no one knows whether the investment will be made in the ‘occupied’ territory or not

Criticising Prime Minister Imran Khan’s foreign policy, Basit said the MoU has been signed, it’s clear that Pakistan is losing control over the matter.

“There should be efforts to find a solution. But is it acceptable that everything is one-sided and the ground has been ceded to India. Now, the condition is that Muslim nations are signing MoUs with India,” Basit said.

Basit said the recent dossier presented by Pakistan, highlighting the atrocities of the Indian government in ‘occupied Kashmir’, failed to work.

“Presenting the dossier isn’t enough. Pakistan is weak on follow-up on a sustained basis. There is no reason why we don’t achieve the results (when it comes to Kashmir. Maybe, we failed to strengthen our civilian platforms to meet the challenges of the 21st century,” he said, the report added.

As India’s business and diplomatic ties with nations like the UAE grow, Basit said, “At this rate, it’s a possibility that soon the UAE and Iran may open their consulates in Kashmir. If this is the state of our diplomatic efforts on Kashmir, this can happen.”

Pakistan has attempted to keep Srinagar isolated in various ways in the past. More than a decade ago, it had lobbied strongly against the UAE opening a visa office there, the report said.

Then, for example, it sabotaged the move to turn Srinagar airport into an international destination. The airport was designated as an international airport in March 2005. An expanded terminal to serve both domestic and international flights was inaugurated on February 14, 2009, by Congress President Sonia Gandhi. On the same day, Air India Express started weekly flights to Dubai. Soon, Pakistan denied permission to fly aircraft from the airport over its airspace. The detour meant longer flights and this made the flights economically unviable, the report added.

The MoU has been signed to enhance real estate development, building infrastructure, industrial parks, IT towers, multipurpose towers, logistics, medical college, super speciality hospital and more in Kashmir.

“This (signing of MoU) is a major success for India in the context of both Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir as OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) members have always kept Pakistan’s sensibilities on Kashmir at the forefront,” Basit said.

“In the past, they (OIC member nations) have never done something to make Pakistan feel that Muslim nations and the OIC are not standing behind us on the Kashmir issue.

“They may not have been very vocal, but have ensured not to work against our sentiment on Kashmir. That’s why we saw many times that representatives of the OIC nations used to refrain from visiting Kashmir. Many times, even if they were invited, the OIC nations kept in mind the feelings of Pakistan,” he said.

ALSO READ: Dubai’s Deal With Naya Kashmir Shocks Pakistan

ALSO READ: Special security group to lead anti-terror ops in Kashmir

Previous Story

Lunar space economy organised at Italy Pavilion

Next Story

Airbus signs strategic MoU with Esharah Etisalat Security Solutions

Latest from -Top News

Pakistan, Turkey Cement Defence Ties

Turkey and Pakistan aim to enhance bilateral trade volume to USD $ 5billion, especially in defence, trade, energy, and infrastructure sectors….reports Asian Lite News Turkey and Pakistan have further solidified their longstanding,

US Issues Iran Travel Alert

The statement came amid the recent tensions between the US and Iran following the 12 days of escalating conflict between Iran and Israel…reports Asian Lite News The US Department of State announced

No Lifetime Visas, Says UAE

The UAE’s ICP has dismissed media claims of lifetime Golden Visas for select nationalities, calling them inaccurate…reports Asian Lite News The Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Ports Security (ICP) has

Netanyahu Nominates Trump for Nobel

Netanyahu hails Trump’s role in Middle East diplomacy with Nobel nomination gesture…reports Asian Lite News Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally nominated US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, handing
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Al Rawabi’s biogas facility is now fully operational

THE project is to help generate 1.3MW of green electricity,

UAE to develop industrial zone in Egypt’s Port Said 

These agreements align with the two countries’ shared vision to