Oman follows a clear path in its foreign relations

18/03/2019

MUSCAT: The thought of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos is based on the principle of making more friends and spreading values of love in the world, said Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdallah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs, during a lecture held at the Cultural Club.

He said that the Sultanate is following a clear path that “neither harm anyone nor entail any danger,” which is based on fundamentals of honesty and transparency, and not involve in hidden agendas, and this path has become clear to others and has gained international convictions.

Alawi added that His Majesty the Sultan had foreseen the places where conflicts can occur.

Speaking on issues of concern to all citizens in the region, he said that the policy outlined by His Majesty on how to deal with ourselves and with others is based on firm foundation and principles that only change according to requirements of the changing world.

He said that in the past five decades, crises and disputes emerged that led to wars in the Middle East between the Arab states, Israel and the West. Nevertheless, the Arab world has sought peace, stability, tranquility and development “until the emergence of a new pattern of extremism and populism, which is now known as IS,” that was defeated militarily, but should be eliminated intellectually.

Alawi affirmed that the Sultanate is devoid of those who follow the thought of IS, saying: “The Sultanate of Oman does not have any IS, and none can say that there is one IS activist in Oman.”

He said that the Sultanate considered the Palestinian cause as “a red line” and “does not trade on the Palestinian cause”. He added that the establishment of an independence Palestinian state is a strategic necessity not only for the Palestinians, but also for the entire region. On the visit of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli prime minister to the Sultanate, he said that the visit was made with the knowledge of both Palestinian and Israeli sides as they requested the Sultanate to facilitate their dialogue because they believe that the Sultanate has no hidden targets.

He added that the Sultanate, through these visits, did not prompt anyone to say what he did not want to say, “but we heard from both parties on the possibility of agreeing on matters that were difficult in the past, including the issue of occupied Jerusalem, Israeli settlements and security”.

He further added that the US cannot implement the “Deal of Century” unless there is an independent Palestinian state with sovereignty. He considered that Palestinians have the ability to accept or reject the deal, in accordance with national interests. He said that a number of issues in the region were “unresolved” and would take time to solve them, such as terrorism issues in all its forms, intellectual terrorism, armed terrorism and economic terrorism, which are linked to specific related issues.