The Inaugural strategic dialogue between the State of Qatar and the United Kingdom kicked off yesterday in London, chaired by HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani and, HE Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly.

The two ministers reaffirmed the strong partnership between Qatar and the UK which enables them to jointly to address regional and global challenges.

Both ministers committed to increase cooperation on a range of joint priorities from further support for de-escalation and peace in the Middle East, earthquake relief to Turkey and Syria, Ukraine, and Horn of Africa to action on global challenges.

As leading economies both agreed to work closer on unwavering support for de-escalation and peace as well as cooperation on global challenges.

Both foreign ministers made clear their steadfast support for the Middle East Peace Process based on a Two State Solution, based on 1967 lines and reaffirmed their strong support for the historic Status Quo governing Jerusalem’s holy sites.

Qatar and the UK also highlighted their efforts with all sides to revive the 2015 Iranian Nuclear Deal. They expressed concern at attacks or measures designed to escalate tension in the Gulf region and called for restraint on all sides. Addressing Afghanistan there was agreement on ongoing humanitarian aid without discrimination.

Both sides signed yesterday the Memorandum of Understanding for the Qatar-UK Strategic Dialogue , the MoU agreed on areas of partnership across bilateral trade, investment; defence, security, and counterterrorism; foreign policy, climate change and energy, humanitarian and development assistance cooperation, global cooperation in conflict management, health, education, and culture.

The Strategic Dialogue serves as a great opportunity to deepen the Qatar-UK partnership to enable even closer cooperation on such concerns.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs