Qatar is a reliable partner in achieving peace in region: Foreign Minister

Qatar participated Tuesday in the sixth ministerial meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), which is being held in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan. Qatar's delegation to the conference was headed by HE the Deputy Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.During his speech at the conference, HE Sheikh Mohamed extended thanks and appreciation to Kazakhstan — which is the current President of the CICA conference — for its hospitality and well-organised meeting. He expressed Qatar's positive appreciation for CICA's path during the past 30 years since its establishment, at the initiative of the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, as a forum for dialogue and unifying the efforts of a wide group of Asian countries to participate in the activity of establishing security and stability in Asia, and to establish a comprehensive membership network in order to confront the emerging challenges and threats in the region, which are still hotbeds of terrorism and regional conflicts.In this context, he said that it is difficult to overestimate the value of CICA's confidence-building catalogue, which includes a broad concept of stability and security issues in their political, economic, cultural, humanitarian, counter-terrorism, and other dimensions that contribute to strengthening multilateral co-operation among member states. The meeting is being held under international circumstances and conditions that has become very complex in the recent years, as in addition to conflicts, escalating crises and international terrorism around the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has posed a new threat and a serious challenge, especially for those living in conflict areas, he added.He highlighted Qatar's acknowledgement that multilateral co-operation is the only way to meet the challenges of epidemics, climate change and the environment in general, which is why Qatar has provided assistance to many countries of the world, in order to confront and control the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to its active participation in international efforts in mobilising resources and energies to confront this pandemic and its repercussions.He also pointed out Qatar's role in supporting research centers in several countries to reduce the serious negative repercussions of the pandemic, to ensure the efficiency of health care, especially in the least developed countries. In the context of keenness to enhance security and stability in the region, HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani pointed out the recent developments in Afghanistan, where the peaceful transfer of power is maintained to achieve a comprehensive political settlement between all Afghan parties and to consolidate security, prosperity and stability, highlighting the certainty that the establishment of wider co-operation in the entire Asian continent can only be reached by achieving security and stability in this country.HE Sheikh Mohamed also pointed out Qatar's appreciation of Kazakhstan's commitment in building an integrated collective security system under the auspices of CICA, to be able to practise international mediation, stressing that Qatar is a reliable partner in achieving peace in the region, as it has played the role of an impartial mediator between various parties of the conflicts, foremost of which is the conclusion of the peace agreement between the US and the Afghan Taliban movement.He also highlighted Qatar's continuous efforts to host the Afghan dialogue to achieve the aspirations of the brotherly Afghan people and ensure the stability of the region. HE Sheikh Mohamed said the preparedness of Qatar — as well as other concerned parties, to provide support for the success of the Presidency of Kazakhstan in implementing the priorities of its presidency in CICA for the period 2020-2022, (marking the 30th anniversary of the conference), including the areas of preventing the spread of epidemics, in addition to digitisation of the economy, education, tourism and regional security, given that they are the most important elements for enhancing confidence-building measures in Asia and consolidating common security and stability.