Bahrain’s King Hamad and Us President Joe Biden affirm commitment to boost ties

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and US President Joe Biden yesterday affirmed their commitment to continue consolidating ties in the defence, security, economic and trade fields. The leaders said this during talks held at the Jeddah Security and Development Summit in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

HM King told President Biden that his participation at the summit would further strengthen the GCC-American cooperation in confronting various challenges. Bahrain, which houses the US 5th Fleet, HM King said is looking forward to ensuring regional and global security and stability with the US as "strategic partners." King Hamad said he highly values Biden's interest in supporting bilateral relations. The two leaders discussed key bilateral issues and ways of supporting cooperation.

Biden stressed his appreciation of the solid strategic partnership between Bahrain and the USA. Jeddah summit communique Separately, in a communique released yesterday, leaders at the Jeddah summit agreed to address all activities threatening regional security and stability and jointly confront challenges. The summit also welcomed Biden’s emphasis on the importance the United States attaches to its decades-old strategic partnerships in the Middle East. On energy security, the meeting stressed the importance of achieving stability in energy markets while working to invest in technologies and projects that aim to reduce emissions.

The leaders also commended the efforts of (OPEC +) in stabilizing oil markets and the decision to increase production in July and August. The summit stressed the need to reach a just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-state solution and called on to stop all unilateral measures that undermine the two-state solution. The summit further renewed determination to develop cooperation, regional integration and projects between countries and support for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The meeting called on Iran for full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and countries in the region to keep the Arab Gulf region free of weapons of mass destruction. The leaders renewed their strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, welcomed the armistice in Yemen, stressed the need to intensify efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis, expressed their support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, security and stability, and renewed support for efforts to resolve the Libyan crisis.

Concerning war in Ukraine, the leaders reiterated the need to respect the principles of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and the obligation not to use or threaten force. The leaders welcomed the preparations of Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup and renewed their support for everything for its success.