Author urges Pakistan to give up the mantra of “permanent enemy” vis-à-vis India and come to terms with new regional and global realities
Author here is pointing towards recent republic day parade ceremony wherein UAE’s crown prince was the Chief Guest while simultaneously hinting that Pakistan’s traditional friends are slowly and gradually shifting against its existing anti-India policy
Relevant points from the article
Why UAE must give India more attention?
- Difference of size between the two South Asian neighbors: Compared to $60 billion in bilateral trade between the UAE and India, its volume of trade with Pakistan stood at only $7 billion in 2015. Although the UAE is the fourth major foreign investor in Pakistan, the cumulative value of those investments stands at $20 billion, much less than the UAE’s investment relationship with India
- Pakistan’s policy of tolerance for jihadi terrorism: Author states that the second, more significant, reality that is undermining Pakistan’s ability to remain the UAE’s first friend in South Asia is its policy of tolerance for jihadi terrorism.The January 11 attack by Pakistan-backed Afghan Taliban belonging to the Haqqani Network at the governor’s house in Kandahar resulted in the death of five UAE diplomatic staff and the wounding of its ambassador to Kabul, Juma Mohammed Abdullah Al Kaabi. Such incidents demonstrate how the UAE and Pakistan might be moving in opposite directions
