Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr. Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah and Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Qatar Ryan M Gliha during the ceremony.
Doha: The US-Qatar defence relationship is the strongest in the history of the bilateral relations, said Ryan Gliha, outgoing Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Doha, yesterday.
Relations in other areas such as education, investment and culture have strengthened over the past three years, he said while addressing the media.
“Over the last three years we have witnessing to growing and strengthening the relationship between the US and Qatar in variety of different areas to include not only military and security but, economy and investment, culture and educational exchange. Really in all this areas Qatar and US have grown closer together. The relationship between the US and Qatar have never been stronger,” he said.
Referring to the defence relationship Gliha described Qatar as an “indispensable partner for the US”. “We saw today (yesterday) the opening of a new construction project ... what we hope to see in the coming years and months is (the) strengthening” of bilateral ties, he said. “Billions of dollars have been spent already at Al Udeid over the last 15 years to support our operations... These are essential to the fight against IS militants and our ability to lead the coalition,” he said.
He also explained that during the past five years the defence ties between Qatar and US have taken new dimensions not only in purchasing military equipment and systems but also in building relationships.
“In the last five years, and accelerated in the last three years we have seen security relationships taken new dimensions, with Qatar coming and now has purchased close to US $26bn worth military equipment and systems from US directly foreign military sales programme. It’s not just a investment in the materiel, this is an investment in the relationship. Because when you buy F 15 fighters you don’t just buy aircraft, you are developing relationships for decades, like for training of pilots and maintainers,” said Gliha.
He further said that the newly opened Defence Language Institute centre which will bring the best in English language instructors from the US to Doha. “This partnership will not only equip Qatar’s bravest with valuable language skills, but will also support greater mil-to-mil interoperability and enable future joint training opportunities,” he added.
Further answering a query on the next US-GCC Summit, Gilha said that although a certain date cannot be predicted, attempts are being made to bring all counties participate in the event. “The summit we want to make sure that we are bringing everyone to the table, so that we are ready to talk and address the issue here so there is some work to be done in order to convince each party to this conflict to sit at the table,” he said.
Gilha further explained that the recent order by the International Court of Justice also highlights the need to find a solution for the ongoing crisis soon as its effecting individuals.
“We saw the decision coming out of Hague, so thing to realise is that we need to find a solution for this crisis as soon as possible, it’s taking a tool and effecting individuals. We saw some individuals being affected negatively in the cases being heard. So this reinforces our commitment to supporting a process to get everyone to the table and get to a solution,” he said.
The US-Qatar economic and business relations are also at an all-time-high. In 2017, the US was Qatar’s single largest import partner, and indeed, the US has been Qatar’s largest import partner over the last decade.
“At the same time, the Qatari government has pledged to invest $45bn in the US by 2020 through the Qatar Investment Authority, of which $10bn will be directly invested in US infrastructure. Over half of these funds have already been deployed,” said Gilha.
He also highlighted importance of high level bilateral visits between Qatar and US. Gilha completing three years of service in Doha will be leaving on new mission to serve at the Consulate at Jeddah next week. William Grant will assume duties as the new Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Doha.
