When the unjust blockade was imposed on Qatar in June 2017 the blockading countries planned, with the help of false accusations, to isolate Qatar from the world community but all of their designs ended in fiasco.
Qatar under wise leadership of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has not only proved all allegations levelled against the country wrong at every forum of the world but has also succeeded in winning global support in favour of its stance on the Gulf crisis. Qatar in the last three years has emerged as an important and respectable member of world community further enhancing its position and role in global organizations including the United Nations.
H H the Amir visited a number of countries from east to west in the last three years where he received rousing welcome and numerous heads of governments/states visited Qatar which was a solid expression of world’s trust on Qatar and its regional, international role in spheres of economy, diplomacy and politics. H H the Amir addressed the opening sessions of UN General Assembly in 2017, 2018 and 2019 which were widely covered by international media and hugely praised by the world leaders.
Through Qatar’s active and vibrant diplomacy, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, defeated blockading countries propaganda onslaught against Qatar. Immediately after imposition of blockade against Qatar, H E the Minister of Foreign Affairs visited dozens of countries to present country’s principled stance on the crisis. H E the Minister of Foreign Affairs also addressed important think tanks in the US, the UK, Germany and talked on almost all regional/global media outlets to present Qatar’s case with full force with the help of facts to beat blockading countries fake-news tactics.
Along the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the other institutions of the State of Qatar like the Shura Council also defeated blockading countries plan of isolating Qatar from the world community. The Shura Council, National Human Rights Committee, the Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Defence hosted a number of global events in Qatar which were attended by the parliamentarians, human rights activists, top security experts, diplomats, academia among others from across the world which was another expression of world’s trust on Qatar and its leadership.
Dozens of high-profile cultural events held during last three years also brought Qatar closer to world nations. Qatar-Germany 2017 Year of Culture, Qatar-Russia 2018 Year of Culture, Qatar-India 2019 Year of Culture were marked with great success while Qatar-France 2020 Year of Culture is being celebrated this year.
Qatar’s mediation efforts to end the war in Afghanistan crossed a major milestone on February 28, 2020 when the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement in Doha for bringing peace to the country in the presence of US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.
The governments of the State of Qatar and the United States held the inaugural Strategic Dialogue in Washington D.C. in January 2018 while the second Strategic Dialogue was held in Doha in January 2019.
Also in February 2020, Qatar hosted the second high-level meeting of the Global Judicial Integrity Network. The meeting was hosted by the Supreme Judiciary Council under the title ‘Past, Present, Future’. On December 9-10, 2019, Qatar hosted 7th Conference of Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC).
Earlier in April 2019, the 141st Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and its related meetings were held in Doha which was attended by over 400 participants (Speakers, Parliamentarians) from across the world.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, on May 1, 2019 opened the 16th Ministerial Meeting of the Member States of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in Doha.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, took part in the meeting of Defence Ministers of countries contributing troops to Nato’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, which was held in the headquarter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) in Brussels on June 8, 2019.
In June 2019, Qatar was also selected as an observer member in the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (LACP).
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed Abdulrahman Al Thani, with Chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on January 14, 2019 through which the State of Qatar would provide a grant of $20m as a restricted grant for victims of irregular migration and human trafficking.
H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs participated in a discussion panel in the Munich Security Conference (MSC) on February 17, 2019.
National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) was appointed on three leading positions during the General Assembly meeting of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) on March 5, 2019.
On December 16, 2018 in 18th Doha Forum which was also attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced that the State of Qatar provided support to the financing of United Nations organisations in the amount of $500m.
H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani attended on September 28, 2018, the signing of an agreement between Qatar Fund For Development and the Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to open and finance a centre for children and armed conflict in Doha, on the sidelines of the meetings of the UN General Assembly in New York. On September 28, 2018, Qatar took over the presidency of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) for 2019.
