Ajay Sharma, British Ambassador to Qatar addressing the media.
DOHA: The strong ties between Qatar and the UK in several areas have further expanded in the past year despite the siege imposed by neighbouring countries, said Ajay Sharma, British Ambassador to Qatar yesterday.
“The UK expects the siege to end soon while we are supporting the Kuwait-led mediation efforts,” he said, addressing the media.
“The UK has big ambitions with Qatar and they are continuing and they have not changed because of this (regional) dispute. We still have a very high level of ambition to do even more with Qatar than we are doing at present. And we do recognise that dispute has made new areas to do more together,” he said.
“The UK wants the dispute to be resolved as quickly as possible. The UK is fully supportive of the Kuwaiti mediation efforts and of course it (UK) is doing its own work through its contacts, its relationships to support the resolution. We want it to be solved as quickly as possible,” he added.
Today (Wednesday) the UK embassy will celebrate the Queen’s birthday in Doha, highlighting the bilateral relations between the UK and Qatar.
The relations between Qatar and the UK in the last year have focused more on ways of implementing the Qatar National Vision 2030 and supporting Qatar to host a successful World Cup in 2022.
“It is a good time to talk about the relationships between the UK and Qatar as we are going to celebrate birthday of the Queen. One of the things that we will be doing in reception is celebrating the relationship between the UK and Qatar,” said Sharma.
“There is a new spirit of partnership between the UK and Qatar. And that partnership was really focused on two areas last year. The first one was on Qatar National Vision 2030. The second area in which we have done a lot is making sure that Qatar is ready to host a really successful World Cup in 2022,” he added.
In March 2017, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on how UK could work with Qatar in implementing Qatar National Vision 2030, supporting in all areas. In this regard several steps have been taken including UK delegations visiting Qatar and holding ministerial-level meetings to review the progress, according to Sharma. Also a ‘Qatar National Vision 2030 officer’ has been appointed at the UK embassy in Doha.
Referring to the World Cup 2022, Sharma said, “We want Qatar to have a really successful World Cup, and we support in different ways by sharing including experts and experience.”
The British Ambassador also said that Qatar would receive Typhoon fighter jets from the UK by the time of the World Cup in 2022, as result of the deal signed between two countries last year. “We expect that the Typhoons will be ready for the World Cup. We certainly see the Typhoons as part of the way of securing the World Cup, and I think the Qatari authorities certainly see it that way,” he said.
Further mentioning about the defence relationship with Qatar, Sharma said, “We recognise how important is the stability of Qatar to the region, but also to the world. The defence relationship has taken Qatar a really major step forward through the deal for the Typhoon jets. The life span of these aircraft and the relationships that it generates is not just small. It involves training, exercises and maintenance. So the defence relationship between UK and Qatar will be completely transformed by this.”
He also mentioned that a formal agreement will be soon signed between Qatar and the UK on fighting against terrorism.
