Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, has lauded the participation of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, along with His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, in the Coronation ceremony of His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Head of the Commonwealth, held today at Westminster Abbey.
He asserted that the royal participation in the event embodies the depth of the long-standing and steadily growing friendship relations and strategic partnership between the two kingdoms’ leaderships and peoples, which extend for more than 200 years, based on mutual love, understanding and respect, as well as constructive joint cooperation.
Dr. Al-Zayani affirmed that under the leadership of HM the King, and based on the directives of the government, led by HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Bahrain is keen to enhance its cooperation and coordination at the highest levels with the United Kingdom as a close strategic ally in various political, security, defence, economic, social and cultural fields, as reflected in its interest in activating more than 30 agreements and memoranda of understanding on bilateral cooperation, and the exchange of official and parliamentary visits.
The minister expressed his pride in the common values and principles shared by the two countries’ leaderships and peoples, including their keenness to promote democracy, respect for human rights, tolerance, human fraternity, and coexistence among all religions, cultures and civilisations.
He also highlighted the two kingdoms’ adoption of a balanced foreign policy that calls for dialogue in settling disputes and achieving a just and comprehensive peace, deepening the international partnership in combating extremism and terrorism, as well as protecting international navigation, energy security and food security, in a way that would promote peaceful coexistence among peoples and support the goals of sustainable development at the regional and international levels.
Dr. Al-Zayani highlighted the keenness of the two countries’ foreign ministries to implement and activate the outcomes of the 15th Bahraini-British Joint Committee meeting, held in Manama in February 2023, in a way that contributes to consolidating the bonds of friendship and close bilateral strategic political, economic and security partnership.
He commended the effective efforts being exerted by the two diplomatic missions in the two countries, led by Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Dean of the Arab Diplomatic Corps, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the UK, and Roderick Drummond, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Bahrain.
The Foreign Affairs Minister appreciated the progress made in the ongoing negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the United Kingdom, and the implementation of the decision to exempt citizens from entry visas to British territory for the purposes of tourism, treatment and education, as more than 1,500 Bahraini students are studying in Britain.
He highlighted the existing broad prospects for joint cooperation in the fields of education, health care, telecommunications, information technology, space sciences, youth, sports, environmental protection and combating climate change.
The minister affirmed that the Bahraini-British relations are slated to grow further, towards more constructive cooperation and solid strategic partnership, as a model of relations between friendly and allied countries, thanks to the care of HM King Hamad and HM King Charles III, and their wise and pioneering initiatives to promote the values of tolerance, peace, service to humanity and support for comprehensive and sustainable development.
Source: Bahrain News Agency