UAE played role in bringing down tension between India and Pakistan: Senior Emirati diplomat
Dubai, Apr 15: The United Arab Emirates played a role in bringing down the tension between India and Pakistan and getting their bilateral ties back to a "healthy functional relationship", Emirati ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba has said.
"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.
India and Pakistan in a surprise announcement said on February 25 that they have agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and other sectors.
Al-Otaiba himself brought up the issue while responding to a question, acknowledging his country's role in "bringing Kashmir escalation down" between the two neighbours.
"We try to be helpful where we have influence with two different countries. So, India and Pakistan was the most recent one , he said.
"We don't think they are going to become the most favoured nation to each other, but I think it's important for them to have a healthy functional relationship," he added.
In New Delhi, asked about media reports that backchannel talks between India and Pakistan were going on for more than a year, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi did not give a direct reply.
"If you talk about channels of communication on this issue, let me just recall that our respective high commissions exist and are functioning. So that is a very effective channel of communication," Bagchi said on April 9.
India has told Pakistan that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence. India has said the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment free of terror and hostility.
On the same day, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman stopped short of categorically denying its involvement in some kind of backchannel talks with India.
Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry at the weekly press briefing on April 9 was asked by several journalists about reported backchannel talks with India.
Instead of rejecting it outrightly he said: States have their ways and means to communicate which remain available even during wars. Therefore, whether any talks are taking place between India and Pakistan is not important.
He added that the real issue was what should be discussed between the two countries and how the dialogue could be made meaningful and result-oriented dialogue.
Ties between India and Pakistan nose-dived after a terror attack on the Pathankot Air Force base in 2016 by terror groups based in the neighbouring country.
Subsequent attacks, including one on Indian Army camp in Uri, further deteriorated the relationship.
The relationship dipped further after India's war planes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan on February 26, 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed.
The relations deteriorated after India announced withdrawing special powers of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories in August, 2019.
Last month, Pakistan's powerful Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that it was time for India and Pakistan to "bury the past and move forward as he asserted that the peace between the two neighbours would help to unlock the potential of South and Central Asia.
The powerful army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 70 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy.
Gen Bajwa's remarks came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan made a similar statement.
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Bombay HC to form high-powered committee on Mumbai air pollution
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it would form a high-powered committee to oversee the compliance of measures to tackle air pollution in the Mumbai region, noting that the efforts taken so far by state and civic authorities are insufficient.
It was not criticizing anyone but wanted to ensure that "people should live in pure air," said a division bench led by Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar.
The HC had in October 2023 taken suo motu cognizance of the rising pollution in the metropolis "which was ranging between good, satisfactory, moderate poor, very poor and severe", the bench noted.
Directions were issued by the court on November 6, 2023, and suggestions were made for short-term, mid-term and long-term measures.
Since then, the HC has made observations expressing dissatisfaction about the steps taken by the Mumbai and Navi Mumbai civic bodies, the judges said.
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) is simply "sailing on its affidavits," but the steps purportedly taken by it were not sufficient, the court stated.
Air pollution in Mumbai has not decreased, in fact it was reported to be very severe in December, said the judges.
"We have apprised ourselves of the previous orders, and find that compliances so far made by (municipal) corporations and MPCB are not sufficient and satisfactory," the court said.
The authorities might have taken serious steps but their results were not visible, it added.
The court expressed inability to examine all the affidavits filed by the municipal corporations and MPCB and reports submitted by an expert committee (formed in 2023), citing the "rising number of dockets and limited hours and time."
After hearing all the parties at length, the high court decided to form a high-powered committee led by a former Supreme Court judge to monitor the compliance of measures to tackle air pollution in Mumbai and the surrounding areas.
The committee should meet on a daily basis, the court said, adding that its members should be provided necessary facilities.
The bench also referred to a suggestion that the citizens affected by pollution should be compensated.
The lawyer for the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation said there are existing statutory bodies to look into this aspect.
"Maybe there are statutory bodies formed in Maharashtra, but then we have not come across any suggestion or action taken by such a body in the present proceedings..." the court said, adding that it was inclined to give "some powers" to the committee.
The court is expected to finalize the names of the committee members in its written order.
