UAE played part in India-Pakistan cease-fire: Emirati ambassador to U.S.

New Delhi,  April  15

The United Arab Emirates played a role in getting longtime Asian rivals India and Pakistan to agree to a cease-fire amid tensions over the disputed region of Kashmir, said Yousef al-Otaiba the Emirati ambassador to the United States of America.

The comments by Yousef al-Otaiba come as the Emirates tries to recalibrate its diplomacy to Washington following U.S. President Joe Biden taking office. After enjoying a close relationship to President Donald Trump, the autocratically ruled UAE has sought to underline its importance in regional affairs as Biden has struck a harder tone with Saudi Arabia and suggested he wants to rejoin Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

Speaking in a video released on Wednesday by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, al-Otaiba acknowledged an Emirati role in bringing the Kashmir escalation down between the two nuclear-armed nations.