The United Arab Emirates Ambassador Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Friday.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister conveyed his warm wishes to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and thanked the UAE for its unwavering support to Pakistan, which bears testimony to the historic, deep-rooted, fraternal ties between the two countries.

Shehbaz Sharif shared Pakistan's perspective on recent developments in South Asia since the Pahalgam incident. He said Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, as it has itself been one of the biggest victims of terrorism. He said Pakistan rendered enormous sacrifices in terms of 90,000 casualties and over 152 billion dollars in economic losses over the years.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan is dealing with the menace of terrorism emanating from its western front. He said India's recent actions and its aggressive posture is distracting Pakistan from its counter-terrorism efforts.

Shehbaz Sharif categorically rejected the baseless accusations leveled by India in its desperate attempts to link Pakistan to the Pahalgam incident, without any evidence. He said Pakistan has nothing to do with this and emphasized that he has offered to have a credible, transparent and neutral international investigation into the incident. He shared that Pakistan is reaching out to other friendly countries to present its position on the current crisis.

The Prime Minister emphasized that his government is focused on consolidating the hard-earned economic gains of the past fifteen months, which have been made possible by the support of friendly countries including the UAE. He added that Pakistan would never take such an action that could imperil regional peace and security.

The Prime Minister also urged brotherly countries, including the UAE, to impress upon India to de-escalate and defuse tensions. He reaffirmed Pakistan's desire for peace and stability in South Asia.

The UAE Ambassador thanked the Prime Minister for sharing Pakistan's position and said that the UAE would work closely with Pakistan for maintaining regional peace and security.