The attempts of the blockading countries - Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt - to isolate Qatar and portray it in a poor light have failed miserably thanks to the strong will shown by Qatar and its wise and calm diplomatic efforts.
The terrorism-related accusations against Qatar were proven false and baseless as the siege countries were not able to produce any evidence to support the claims.
On the other hand, Qatar enhanced its diplomatic efforts and co-ordination with the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the US, UK, France, Russia and China.
Qatar maintained excellent relations with the US despite the efforts of some of the siege nations to undermine this. Its diplomacy and international relations saw major and far-reaching efforts being exerted to explain the country’s stand to the world through facts and action rather than baseless allegations as was done by the blockading countries.
Qatar also called for open talks to resolve the situation and welcome and highly appreciated the Kuwaiti mediation efforts. However, the siege nations insisted on undermining the country’s sovereignty and independent decision-making through their demands, issued on June 23 last year, which were deemed unreasonable and unacceptable by almost the entire world. They later brought down the 13 demands to six broad principles.
This climbdown by the four Arab siege countries was described as an “insincere face-saving” attempt.
In the meantime, Qatar managed to enhance its strategic partnership with many countries and entered into key agreements in terms of defence, trade, supply of goods, security etc, which helped consolidate Qatar’s global position.
The country also managed to document the human rights violations that resulted from the blockade throughout the past year, which negatively influenced many Qataris as well as non-Qataris in the countries and the mixed GCC families in particular. The Compensation Claims Committee was established shortly after the blockade began to handle related cases and take the necessary legal action to pursue the rights of the victims. The National Human Rights Committee played a key role in highlighting the ill- effects of the unjust blockade and how rights were being trampled on by the actions of the siege nations.
Meanwhile, Qatar has made great strides in various fields over the past year. It has boosted its food production in various areas such as meat and poultry, dairy products, vegetables, fish and others. Many experts stressed that the blockade was an incentive for speeding up the already scheduled development plans. For instance, Hamad Port was inaugurated and this opened various new international trade and supply routes, making Doha a new hub for direct shipments.
Besides, the government offered various initiatives to encourage local and foreign investment in various key areas, easing the procedures involved and opening up new opportunities for investors.
The country, according to experts and observers, has emerged much stronger and powerful from the ongoing crisis and maintained its sovereignty and welfare of its people.
Qatar blockade
