The Third Meeting of the Consultative Group for the Istanbul Co-operation Initiative (ICI) concluded yesterday in Doha after coming up with a number of important proposals and ideas.
Addressing the closing ceremony yesterday Secretary-General of the Foreign Ministry, Dr Ahmed bin Hassan al-Hammadi said the threats to global security have become common. A joint, comprehensive effort is needed to face the threats while exchanging expertise and information on a regional and international level.
He noted that the partnership between members of the initiative and Nato has recorded a noticeable success in terms of achieving security in some countries. Facing future security threats will require strengthening ties further, which will aid in swiftly controlling any developments.
Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges ambassador Sorin Ducaru said that he sensed during the dialogue a desire for joint work.
For his part, Qatar’s ambassador to Belgium Sheikh Ali bin Jassim bin Thani al-Thani, who is also head of Qatar’s mission to EU and Nato, stressed that Qatar has put in a huge effort to enhance co-operation between members and Nato ever since it joined the ICI in March 2005.
He noted that security threats and dangers face members of the international community collectively without exceptions, which requires joint efforts, including establishing co-operation mechanisms, exchanging expertise and information on a regional and international level.
The ambassador pointed out that the initiative had a clear role in strengthening ties with Nato, which was a big step towards guaranteeing stability and security in the region. Co-operation also helped improve security through training programmes that aided the ability of member-countries to face threats.
Sheikh Ali bin Jassim al-Thani said more efforts are needed to plan a future framework for co-operation between the ICI states and Nato.
He added that the fields included in the agreement must be expanded by evaluating what has been achieved so far and whether it goes in line with the ambitions and interests of both sides. After that, the agreement would be expanded to feature new spheres of political and practical co-operation so as to overcome the negatives and create a new reality that takes the agreement forward and achieves results that helps in addressing current and future challenges.
The Qatari diplomat stressed the importance of boosting political dialogue among ICI states and Nato through semi-regular meetings at the ministerial level as well as at the level of the ambassadors of ICI states in Brussels with Nato ambassadors. He noted that dialogue and exchanging points of view in such meetings help in increasing and promoting co-operation, which reflects positively on building trust among ICI states and Nato, and enhancing partnership to boost international security and peace.
He highlighted the significance of specifying the mutual interests and practical objectives in order to achieve tangible results and address threats that jeopardise regional security, noting that this requires a united vision for ICI states towards the different regional issues, with that being an aspect of building a unified regional security strategy to achieve security for the Gulf region.
Sheikh Ali bin Jassim al-Thani pointed to the need to find a proper mechanism for evaluating the extent to which ICI states benefit from the training courses that Nato carries out in the different fields and work to address the negatives if there were any. He noted that these trainings, whether practical or theoretical, constitute one of the basic pillars of co-operation between the two sides.
The Qatari ambassador reaffirmed the importance of following up on the implementation of the recommendations of previous and future meetings and supporting ideas that help in developing the partnership between Nato and ICI states, while briefing ICI states on the security, regional, political, social and economic developments and founding training and practice ventures between the two sides in building defence and security capacities so as to show strength, opportunities and benefits of the partnership.
He also highlighted the importance of co-ordination on a united strategy for public diplomacy by organising regular meetings on important matters that require united stances and reactions.
Sheikh Ali bin Jassim al-Thani said a new phase of co-operation started by approving the individual partnership programme between all the ICI states and Nato as well as the decision to accredit embassies of the ICI states in Brussels as missions to Nato.
The Qatari diplomat said bilateral co-operation is moving in the right direction but noted that more effort needs to be exerted to promote mutual understanding and find joint approaches on challenges facing the two sides.
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