Manama: Bahrain and Nato yesterday signed a security accord that both parties see as a necessity to move forward in the fight against global threats.
The Agreement for the Protection of Classified Information was signed by foreign minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa and Nato secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the opening ceremony of an international conference on Nato-Bahrain relations and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI).
The conference seeks to promote a better mutual understanding between Nato and Gulf countries and to introduce fresh ideas from the region into the implementation of the ICI, organisers said.
Bahrain is one of four GCC countries to have joined the ICI, a programme launched by Nato in Istanbul in June 2004 to encourage military, security and civil cooperation with Gulf states. Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE also joined the initiative.
"Globalisation brings an unprecedented interconnectedness of both threats and opportunities ... Today's challenges can therefore be addressed only by broad, deep and sustained global cooperation in which our actions are well understood. Forging genuine partnerships between Nato and other countries is essential to addressing global challenges," Shaikh Khalid, whose country is a major non-Nato ally, told the conference.
For De Hoop Scheffer, geography no longer serves as a shield against global challenges. "What we need are global responses, innovative new approaches that extend across national, geographical and cultural boundaries," he said.
Highlighting emerging cooperation between Gulf states and Nato as an encouraging example for providing security and stability in new ways, De Hoop Scheffer said in domestic terms, Gulf states have demonstrated a willingness to meet the challenge of change and reform.
Heritage
"Many Gulf states have shown a strong determination to combine their proud Islamic and Arabic heritage with the challenges and opportunities posed by modernisation and globalisation.
"The diversification of their economies and the enormous investment in public services, education and infrastructure are the most obvious examples," he said.
In foreign policy, the Gulf states have emerged as true players in their own right, defining their relationships with other roleplayers according to their own strategic interests, De Hoop Scheffer said.
