Pakistan welcomes Saudi-Qatari border reopening

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan on Tuesday welcomed a decision by Saudi Arabia and Qatar to reopen their mutual land, air and sea borders.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry also said it appreciated steps by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that would contribute to resolving "outstanding issues between the countries of the organization persisting for almost four years."

Earlier, the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry announced that Doha and Riyadh had agreed to reopen their airspace and borders starting Tuesday tonight.

The development marks a breakthrough in efforts to end a diplomatic crisis that has seen Qatar facing a blockade by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt since June 2017.

Lauding the "positive" role played by the emir of Kuwait towards the resolution of the differences between the two countries, Islamabad said: "His persistent and sincere efforts, and cooperation of the GCC countries, led to this important and amicable outcome."

"We hope that the GCC Summit, being held today [Tuesday] in Al-Ula [Riyadh], will further build on these encouraging developments and lead to enhanced confidence and cooperation among the countries of the organization," the statement added.

It underlined that it continues to accord high importance to its relationship with GCC countries.

Accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism and meddling in their internal affairs, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt had cut ties with Qatar and imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the country.

Qatar, with the support of Turkey, consistently denied the charges and voiced readiness for dialogue to end the impasse.