Nouakchott severed its diplomatic ties with Doha in 2017 after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a land, air and sea blockade.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met with his Mauritanian counterpart Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed in Doha on Sunday, state news agency [QNA] reported.

“I met with my brother Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad today in Doha. We reviewed bilateral relations and the resumption of diplomatic relations between our brotherly countries,” said Qatar’s foreign minister in a tweet.

The latest meeting comes as Qatar and Mauritania restore diplomatic ties following the 2017 illegal land, air and sea blockade on the Gulf state.

Read also: Timeline: How the GCC crisis erupted over three years

While Mauritania is geographically far from the GCC, it is largely influenced by Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy. Similarly, Yemen, Comoros and the Maldives followed Riyadh’s footsteps at the time in cutting their diplomatic relations with Doha.

Last week, Maldives’ President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih also met with Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in the Gulf state in his first ever visit since the GCC crisis, a visit which saw the resumption of bilateral ties between the two countries.

The GCC crisis ended on January 5th this year, when Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt signed the historic Al-Ula Declaration at the 41st GCC Summit in the Saudi kingdom.

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