Image from February 1, when Chargé d’Affaires Ryan Gliha met with media to discuss the US-Qatar Strategic Dialogue. Pic: Baher Amin/The Peninsula
DOHA: There is no more important or stronger ally to the US than Qatar in the region, a senior US official has said.
“Qatar-US strategic dialogue that was held two weeks ago aims to send the message to the world and not only to the people in Qatar that the relations between the two countries are very important and have reached to a strategic level. Our relations has reached to the level where we could say that there is no other important or stronger ally to the US than Qatar,” said Ryan Gliha, the Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of the United States of America to Qatar.
He said that the relations between Qatar and the US have witnessed big developments especially in the recent years and “now we are marking the 45th year of our bilateral the relations.” Ryan Gliha said this while speaking to Qatar TV programme Hayatuna (Our Lives) recently about the positive outcomes of the Qatar US strategic dialogue.
He added that the relations between the two countries are not limited to the military field through Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar only, but they are expanded to other fields like culture, combating terrorism, education and economy.
“We have noticed that every year the relations witness more developments in some areas. This invited us to make the relations strategic. Qatari investments in the US increased year by year and during the last two years investment by Qatar Investment Authority reached $45bn in the US,” he said. The six campuses of different US universities in the State of Qatar is a better reflection of the cooperation between the two countries in education besides other fields, he added.
Qatar-US strategic dialogue was held on January 30 in the US capital Washington DC in which high level delegations from both sides signed a number of a number of agreements, Memorandums of Understandings (MoU), and letters of intent.
The dialogue was meant to enhance the partnerships between the two countries in light of the historic ties and strategic interests they share on political, economical, cultural, educational and security levels.The talks revealed increase in the strategic visions between the two countries and stressed the need to remain close allies and friends at bilateral and multilateral levels.
The dialogue was aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and it highlighted the common beneficial opportunities for the peoples of both the countries.
