The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa met iAlistair Burt, the Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign and Common Wealth Office in the United Kingdom.

The minister affirmed the depth of the close historical relations linking the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Kingdom on various levels, saying that bilateral ties will make further progress towards broader prospects in light of the keenness of two leaderships to broaden cooperation and continue consultation and coordination vis-à-vis all issues.

Shaikh Khalid praised the key role played by the United Kingdom in the fight against terrorism of all forms and in cooperation with the states of the region for the sake of world peace and stability.

Burt stressed the keen desire of the United Kingdom to further its relations with the Kingdom of Bahrain in multiple areas and to work together to underpin peace and security in the region.

In a related context, the Joint Bahraini-British Working Group held a meeting under the co-chairmanship of Shaikh Khalid and Burt, during which the two sides reviewed bilateral ties and ways to boost them at all levels to meet the ambitions of the two friendly countries and peoples.

Both sides underlined the importance of the joint Bahraini-British Working Group meeting in pushing forward and activating cooperation and exchange of expertise to support development and progress and avail of all the available opportunities and potentials for further rapprochement, based on mutual respect and common interests.

The meeting also included consultations on and discussions of the most important issues and developments on regional and global arenas in addition to ways of reinforcing coordination with regard to them at international gatherings to serve common interests and joint endeavors to confront the challenges facing peace and security in the region.

Present at the meeting were the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, Essam bin Abdullah Khalaf, Public Security Chief, Major General Tariq Al Hassan, and a number of representatives of government ministries and institutions.

Source: BNA