Nato: We are committed to our Gulf partners

Chicago: The North Atlantic Treaty Orgnisation (Nato) on Monday reiterated its commitment to its partnership with the Gulf and Mediterranean countries.

"At a time of unprecedented change in the Mediterranean and broader Middle East, Nato is committed to strengthening and developing partnership relations with countries in the region, with whom we face common security challenges and share the same goals for peace, security and stability," the alliance said at the end of its summit in Chicago, the largest in its 63-year-old history.

"We will strengthen political dialogue and practical cooperation in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative [ICI]. We warmly welcome the generous offer by the State of Kuwait to host an ICI Regional Centre, which will help us to better understand common security challenges, and discuss how to address them together. We encourage our ICI partner countries to be proactive in exploiting the opportunities offered by their partnership with Nato. We remain open to receiving new members in the ICI," the alliance said.

Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE have boosted their partnership with the Brussels-based Nato after they joined the ICI.

Nato said that it was ready to consult more regularly on security issues of common concern, through the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and the ICI, as well as bilateral consultations and other formats, it said.