For the last few decades, Qatar has been pursuing a very effective international diplomacy which has been winning the hearts and minds of several world leaders. Now, Qatar’s voice carries significant weight in global forums. It was not an accident that leaders from across the world thronged Doha during and immediately after the peaceful pullout of the US troops from Afghanistan, which had been facilitated by the relentless mediation between the US and the Taliban hosted by Qatar.
When the evacuation of thousands of foreign nationals and Afghans who wanted to leave the country following the US troop pullout became a global challenge, Qatar again came to the rescue thanks to the trust-worthy relations as a reliable party that the country could develop with the Taliban. World leaders in unison praised the Qatari efforts and many of them through personal visits and phone calls expressed their gratitude to Qatar’s leadership.
Qatar has been keen on developing friendly ties not only with regional countries but across the world, whether it is Asia, Europe or the Americas. The country could develop these relations to strategic ones with scores of countries and with some others they reached a partnership level.
On Monday, the first Strategic Dialogue between Qatar and Italy took place in Rome under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy H E Luigi Di Maio. The dialogue is a milestone in the close diplomatic relations between the two countries, especially as it comes before the 30th anniversary celebrations of opening their embassies in Doha and Rome.
Such dialogues provide a pivotal framework for enhancing cooperation between the countries in various sectors including trade, investment, security and will strengthen their combined role in international issues.
Qatar’s relations with Italy have grown leaps and bounds in the past decade, especially during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, relief materials and aid from Qatar extended a great relief to Italy which had been weighed down under the burden of the pandemic. Under the directive of H H the Amir, two Qatar Amiri Air Force aircraft carried two field hospitals to Italy in support of the Italian efforts to fight COVID-19. Both hospitals together could accommodate 1,000 beds equipped with modern technology in a combined area of 9,200sqm.
On Monday, the Italian Foreign Minister thanked Qatar yet again for its help in evacuating over 1,000 Italians and Afghans stranded in Afghanistan and agreeing for transferring the Italian embassy in Kabul to Doha.
