Daily ‘Dawn’ in its editorial comments on Wednesday referred to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Al-Awla, hosted by the Saudi government, to resolve its dispute with Qatar.
Interestingly, the Saudi Crown Prince's special welcome to the Emir of Qatar was unimaginable as recently because Riyadh launched a campaign with the support of Abu Dhabi, Manama and Cairo to isolate Doha on a list of charges against this member of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
"While the detente is a positive development, questions remain over the intentions," the editorial said, referring to Kuwait and Oman's efforts to defuse tensions between Qatar and its sanctions and the involvement of Donald Trump's son-in-law.
Dawn added if the motive is to improve regional relations by adhering to the principle of Gulf solidarity, then the move should be welcomed. However, if the alliance is being nudged to form a united front to confront Iran, then there would be a reason to worry.
It said moreover, the establishment of relations between the UAE and Bahrain with the Zionist Regime has also complicated matters, considering Tehran’s long-standing opposition to Tel Aviv.
It noted that Iranian leaders have said that any attack on their country will be answered with strikes on US interests in the region. “Most of the Persian Gulf monarchies host American military bases of various descriptions,” said Dawn.
The paper warned that any attempt by the Trump administration, or its local client Israel, to confront Iran militarily is likely to have catastrophic results. “While the US is clearly the superior military power, Iran has mastered asymmetrical warfare tactics in the region,” said the daily.
It said Arabs must adopt the path of dialogue with Iran instead of hoping for American intervention, or giving the Zionist regime a conduit in the Persian Gulf which will bring nothing good to this volatile region.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcoming the de-escalation of tensions between Doha and Riyadh and the reopening of the borders between the two countries expressed the hope that the GCC meeting in Al-Awla will increase trust and cooperation between member countries.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt cut ties with Qatar in June 2017, claiming that the country supports terrorism, which was denied by Doha. The four countries all their land, sea and air borders to Qatar until this year.
The 41st summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was hosted by Saudi Arabia on Tuesday evening with the aim of reconciliation between the member states.
During the summit, a compromise agreement was signed with Qatar to end the disputes with Doha by some GCC states.
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