New Delhi, Oct 19: Qatar will soon announce a new defence partnership with regional countries as it seeks to strengthen security cooperation amid continuing tensions in the Gulf, Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said.
Speaking at the Global Security Forum in Doha, Sheikh Saoud said Qatar had reviewed its defence capabilities, with a focus on air defence, counter-drone measures, cybersecurity and water security, Al Jazeera reported. Emphasising cooperation among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, he said collaboration with the United States had strengthened regional defence capabilities. He claimed that more than 90 percent of attacks during the Iran war had been prevented through shared expertise and decades of military investment.
Warning of further economic repercussions from disruptions to Gulf energy supplies, Sheikh Saoud said the impact had yet to reach its peak. “We haven’t reached the peak with respect to energy,” he said, cautioning that the consequences could become more severe in the coming days and months.
He said instability in the Gulf threatened energy supplies and international trade, potentially disrupting supply chains between the East and the West. It could also affect Gulf investments in Europe and the US, as well as financial assistance provided by Gulf countries to other nations. Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial complex, a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) production hub, was damaged in Iranian attacks in March, according to the report.
On relations with Tehran, Sheikh Saoud said Qatar had maintained communication with Iran despite attacks on its territory and differences over the regional conflict. Referring to the two countries’ shared gasfield, he said they had enjoyed a relationship of trust before the attacks. “We never stop our communication,” he said, adding that contacts continued at different levels and that the two sides had reached a “common understanding”.
