GCC must solidify joint action

Riyadh/ WAM

The GCC countries need today, more than any time before, to solidify their joint action mechanism to address and confront challenges facing them in a regional, troubled setting fraught with risks and threats and an international environment experiencing rapid and important transformations in terms of stance, policies and trends, affirmed His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
In a statement marking his participation at the GCC-US Summit in Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Thursday, HH Sheikh Mohamed said, “The GCC countries are key actors in the interactions that are going on in the Arab region and the Middle East given their regional and international influence, their ability to affect the course of events in the region and their strategic importance to the world. They have a great responsibility to preserve security and stability in the region and stand united against plots of chaos and destruction that some of the countries were facing.”
“These circumstances give this summit with United States (US) President Barack Obama a special significance, especially at this delicate juncture the region is passing through.” As head of the UAE’s delegation to the one-day gathering, Sheikh Mohamed conveyed the greetings of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the GCC and the US leaders along with his best wishes for success of the summit which he hoped would produce results that strengthen the GCC-US joint action and protect higher Arab interests from threats that target security and stability in the region.
Sheikh Mohamed said the latest co-ordinated and unified stance taken by the GCC countries towards many pressing issues and files send a clear message: the GCC countries are capable of defending their interests and gains of their peoples and have the will of taking effective action against any threats to their security.
Regionally, HH noted that the UAE policy towards crises in the region from Yemen, Libya and Iraq to Syria is based on clear principles with the top priority being the preservation of security and stability of Arab countries and standing beside them in their efforts to realise interests of their peoples and serve their aspirations towards development, stability and progress.