Optimism increases before GCC summit in Riyadh tomorrow

Dubai: GCC leaders will meet in Riyadh tomorrow (Tuesday) at the alliance’s 42nd Summit, which is being seen as one of the most significant meeting since the foundation of the Gulf bloc 40 years ago.

GCC unity and regional security are key topics to be discussed during the summit, particularly as it comes one year after the historic AlUla agreement that ended a three-and-a-half-year rift with Qatar.

The summit also follows the five-Gulf-nation tour by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in his effort to formulate a unified stance on regional security issues, chiefly Iran’s nuclear and missile dossiers.

The talks between the Saudi Crown Prince and leaders of the other five Gulf nations focussed on their countries’ shared destiny and the need to seriously deal with Tehran’s nuclear and missile issue.

The joint statements issued at the conclusion of Prince’s Mohammed’s tour ushered in a new phase of cooperation aiming to take GCC joint action to a higher level of coordination, to collectively deal with political issues.

This has been clearly manifested in the unified stance on Iran, and the united reaction to Lebanon’s former minister of information George Kordahi’s comments on the war in Yemen.

The summit offers an opportunity for the six Gulf nations to give a boost to the rapprochement between Qatar on one hand, and the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on the other.

The Riyadh summit also offers GCC leaders an opportunity to strengthen their coordination in the security and political fields, and chart a roadmap that allows them to deal with many challenges faced by GCC countries, and focus on ways to meet the aspirations of the Gulf people.

It also increases optimism that GCC leaders will come up with a more unified stance to activate the joint action and find solutions to pending issues, such as the joint market.