Foreign minister holds bilateral meetings with Saudi, Bahraini counterparts

Muscat: Oman’s Foreign Minister met with counterparts from Gulf Cooperation Council countries Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Foreign Minister met with Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, on the sidelines of the activities of the 16th session of the Manama Dialogue 2020,” the Omani Foreign Ministry said.

 “During the meeting, the historical relations between the two countries were emphasised, and the common desire to strengthen them in all fields were expressed. A number of issues of common interest were reviewed,” added the ministry.

At the conference, which is held from 4 to 6 December, Al Busaidi also held discussions with his counterpart from Saudi Arabia.

“Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi met with Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, on the sidelines of the activities of the 16th session of the Manama Dialogue,” the statement said.

“During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries and ways to enhance and support them. His Excellency and His Highness also discussed developments in the region and exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues of common interest.”

The Manama Dialogue, which is a forum set up to discuss challenges facing the Middle East, also featured the foreign ministers of all three countries as key speakers during the event.

Others include Michael Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, Dr Kang Kyung-Wha, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, Peter Maurer, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Miguel Berger, the State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, Harjit Singh Sajjan, the Minister of National Defence of Canada, and Ayman Safadi, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Jordan.

Other speakers include Dr Fouad Hussain, the Foreign Minister of Iraq, Dr Hamdullah Monib, the National Security Advisor of Afghanistan, Dr Nayef Al Hajraf, the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Mark Sedwill, Former Cabinet Secretary and National Security Advisor to the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom, and Jhai Zun, the Special Envoy of the Chinese government for the Middle East.

Also involved were General Sir Nicholas Carter, the UK’s Chief of the Defence Staff, Major General Yousef Al Huneiti, the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff of Jordan’s armed forces, and Commander Samuel Paparo of the US Naval Forces Central Command.