Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi attending the NAM meeting in Baku.
Baku: Qatar participated in the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which was held in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, under the title “Non-Aligned Movement, united and steadfast in confronting emerging challenges.”
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi represented Qatar in the meeting. In the speech of Qatar before the meeting, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs expressed Qatar’s strong condemnation of the crime of burning the copies of Holy Quran, considering it a racist crime that fuels feelings of hatred and Islamophobia and threatens peace and stability in the world.
He called for collective measures to prevent the recurrence of such crimes, which contradict the values of freedom and justice, and undermine communication between peoples and nations.
The Minister indicated that Qatar believes in and also supports the objectives and principles of NAM, which over more than six decades has proven effective in preserving the independence of the its members’ decision-making, easing international tension, opposing the polarisation policies, supporting the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and supporting international peace and security.
He explained that Qatar believes in the importance of the NAM’s effective platform to enhance multilateralism and solidarity between our countries in various issues of common interest, pointing out that cooperation and coordination for the common interest is a priority factor of Qatar’s foreign policy.
He added that Qatar has been constantly stressing the peaceful settlement of disputes, as an essential factor for achieving and ensuring security, peace, stability and development at the international, regional and local levels.
The Minister stressed that the Palestinian issue was one of the most important, central issues for the Non-Aligned Movement, noting that the current period was witnessing a dangerous escalation and abhorrent racist practices by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people.
He added that it calls for the movement to reiterate its position regarding achieving a permanent settlement to the conflict in line with international law and international legitimacy based on the two-state solution and the establishment of the Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Minister also stressed the need to condemn the repeated attacks on the Palestinian people and their sanctities, and condemn illegal settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories.
He also indicated that many of the movement’s countries are among the least developed countries that face special difficulties that threaten to undermine development gains and social peace, pointing out that Qatar hosted last March the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which resulted in the Doha Work Program and the Doha Political Declaration.
In it, commitments to donations, investments, loans, development projects, and technical support of more than $1.3bn were announced, which will help these countries build their capacity to achieve development over the next 10 years, and support the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Reaffirming the country’s commitment, the Minister said that Qatar to continue strengthening its distinguished cooperative relations with the Non-Aligned Movement countries on the bilateral and multilateral levels; in order to achieve common principles and goals, and to meet existing and emerging challenges.
