Oman’s Foreign Minister expresses the Sultanate’s optimism for end to Gulf crisis

The Foreign Minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, has said he is optimistic that inclusive dialogue can deliver a permanent solution to tensions within the GCC.

In his intervention at the 16th edition of the IISS Manama Dialogue in Bahrain the Foreign Minister said: “Exclusion rejection or blockades are not in our diplomatic repertoire”.

Welcoming the recent Kuwaiti statement on the positive results of the reconciliation efforts led by his late Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, Minister Sayyid Badr said that building sustainable security structures in the Gulf region required active engagement with all parties and “not just talking to those with whom we are already in agreement.”

“It will be a positive development for a new climate of inclusivity if a way can be found, collectively, to get more regional parties involved in the JCPOA more fully and positively,” he added.

To build long term security in the Middle East, he argued, required expanding the sense of what security means today, “to include the everyday security of those whose daily lives depend upon our ability to distribute our collective resources in a manner that is widely perceived, by a strong social consensus, as just and fair.”

In a wide-ranging speech the Minister also spoke of some developments in Omani domestic policy related to the economy.

He said that as the government pursued economic transformation it would take particular care to make sure that low-income families are properly protected.

“Those of us who enjoy prosperity and privilege owe it to our fellow citizens to make the kind of contribution that will guarantee the security of everyone else. Social security is an essential component for successful fiscal policy.”

The full text of Sayyid Badr’s speech can be found here.