Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani recently announced the signing of a declaration of intent to establish a strategic dialogue between the State of Qatar and French Republic. The announcement was made after a meeting between H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic Jean-Yves Le Drian, who was on a visit to Qatar. During the meeting Qatar and France discussed issues of wide-ranging interests to both the countries and issues of international importance and they exchanged views on regional issues, especially the Gulf crisis and the Palestinian issue.
In the recent past, Qatar has been making its presence felt in the international arena through visits by Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asian countries etc. H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs has been relentlessly touring countries across the world to enhance Qatar’s relations with those countries and to find solutions to problems the world is facing in general. There has been a flurry of visits by heads of states and top diplomats of different countries to Qatar as well and the visit by the French Minister is the latest among them.
The signing of the declaration of intent marks a qualitative leap of the strategic partnership between Doha and Paris and it reaffirms the common, solid and constructive aspects of the bilateral relations. The agreement covers several areas such as defence, security, health, education, culture, sports, economy, investment, combating terrorism and follow up of the developments of the relationship between the two countries and the implementation of the different mutual agreements, H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs said during a joint press conference with the French Minister. Such dialogue strategy will create the right background and atmosphere for coordination of action and building partnership and materialising the vision of both the countries.
The French minister praised the strong ties between his country and Qatar, which covers several areas of cooperation such as defence, security and culture. The visiting minister said that the dialogue will cover a wide scope of areas and will continue on a regular basis. He added that the it will help finding a political solution in Libya resulting in security and stability in the region. The dialogue will also focus on ways to resolve the Syrian crisis, support sovereignty and stability of countries beset with crisis such as Lebanon and Iraq. It is also expected to bring comfort to the struggling Palestinian regions, especially Gaza, which requires a concerted effort from the international community.
The French minister said that the increasing number of threats and crises in the Middle East and elsewhere shows the importance of security and defence cooperation between Qatar and France.
