Doha also participated in Riyadh’s World Defence Show 2022.

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Defence Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, has met with Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha on Monday.

The Saudi official also met with Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. During the meetings, the senior officials reviewed Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s bilateral ties and means to develop them.

“The visit comes to continue strengthening relations between our brotherly countries, to achieve common goals and aspirations of both leaderships, and serve the course of cooperation within the framework of the GCC,” tweeted Sheikh Mohammed.

Al-Saud also expressed the importance of the neighbouring countries’ ties. He cited the latest statement made by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) on Doha and Riyadh’s bilateral relations.

In a recent interview with The Atlantic, MBS lauded Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s “amazing” relations.

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“Today we have unbelievable, amazing relations with Qatar. Sheikh Tamim [is] an amazing person, an amazing leader. Same goes for the other GCC leaders. Our aim and focus is on how to build a great future. We are very, very close. And it’s like, we are better than ever in history,” he said.

On Sunday, Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah was in Riyadh for the World Defense Show 2022. Key security and defense officials from around the world were at the four-day event.

The mutual visits between Qatari and Saudi officials have increased since the signing of the Al-Ula declaration on 5 January 2021. The agreement paved the way for the end of the 2017 illegal air, land and sea blockade on Qatar.

The embargo was imposed by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, and Egypt over baseless claims that Qatar sponsored terrorism. Doha has also denied the allegations made by the quartet.

In December, MBS was in Qatar on his first visit to the country since the 2017 GCC crisis. The visit was followed with Sheikh Tamim’s visit to Saudi Arabia for the 42nd GCC summit.

Major progress between the two countries was also seen in November last year, when Qatar’s border with Saudi Arabia was moved further towards the kingdom, expanding the peninsula’s geographical boundaries.

In January, Qatar and Saudi Arabia agreed to pause their dispute over the findings of a report by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regarding copyright theft of Doha’s beIN Sports by Riyadh in 2017.

Last month saw the announcement that the GCC railway connecting Qatar to Saudi Arabia will kick off soon. The 2,177 km Gulf Railway is a proposed transportation system connecting all six GCC countries in Eastern Arabia.