On Nasser Bourita’s Visio Meeting with Secretary-General of Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf

Today, February 23rd, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, held a visio meeting with Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf.

A statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Expatriates stated that the meeting dealt with the path of the strategic partnership between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States since 2011, as the important steps taken by this partnership were noted, thanks to the high auspices of King Mohammed VI and leaders of GCC countries, and resulted in extending the joint work plan until 2024.

In this context, Nasser Bourita expressed Morocco’s readiness to continue working with the General Secretariat and the Gulf States in order to develop the path of this partnership, thus establishing a new stage of cooperation and consolidating a renewed participatory framework that strengthens political, economic, commercial and human relations between the two sides, embodying the King’s perspective Mohamed VI in the royal speech before the Moroccan-Gulf Summit held in Riyadh on April 20th, 2016.

During this meeting, the Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council praised the efforts of the King, Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee, in defending the Holy City, protecting its Islamic features, preserving the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and defending its historical identity as a land for coexistence between all divine religions.

In the same context, the Secretary-General reiterated the GCC states’ firm position in support of Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara and territorial integrity, believing that any solution to this artificial regional conflict can only take place within the framework of the sovereignty and unity of the Kingdom of Morocco.

For his part, Bourita praised the common denominators and solidarity linking Morocco with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, stressing Morocco’s support for the security and stability of Gulf States, and its rejection of any threats facing the region.

The meeting also addressed a number of Arab and regional issues, on which both sides expressed similar views.