Qatar and the UAE had announced the mutual reopening of diplomatic missions in June.
The United Arab Emirates has named Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan as its ambassador to Qatar on Monday, six years after Abu Dhabi severed all diplomatic and trade ties with Doha during the 2017 GCC crisis.
The new Emirati ambassador took his oath in Abu Dhabi before President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s news agency (WAM) reported.
“During the oath-taking ceremony at Qasr Al-Shati, His Highness the President wished the two ambassadors success in their new duties. He urged them to do their utmost to strengthen relations with Qatar and Kenya, and expressed the UAE’s desire to consolidate ties with all countries,” WAM reported.
The latest move came just weeks after Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani appointed Dr. Sultan Salmeen Saeed Al Mansouri as Doha’s ambassador to the Emirates, marking the final steps in the resumption of ties between the neighbouring countries.
In June, Qatar and the UAE announced the mutual reopening of diplomatic missions amid the warming of ties between the two countries following the 2017 GCC crisis.
At the time of the region’s worst diplomatic crisis, the UAE joined Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt in severing ties with Qatar and imposed an illegal air, land and sea blockade on the Gulf state.
The quartet accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, though Doha has consistently and vehemently denied the “baseless” allegations.
While the crisis effectively came to an end in 2021 with the signing of the Al-Ula Declaration in Saudi Arabia, ties between Qatar and the UAE have taken time to pick up pace.
However, notable progress was seen late last year with a surprise visit by the UAE’s leader to Qatar during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, marking his first trip to the Gulf state since becoming president.
In May last year, Qatar’s amir visited the UAE for the first time since the crisis was resolved to offer his condolences following the death of former ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.
In yet another major development in March, the UAE withdrew its bid to host the 2026 World Bank International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in favour of Qatar.
The announcement was made in a phone call between Sheikh Tamim and MbZ, with the latter expressing his country’s support for Qatar’s candidacy file to host the IMF and World Bank meetings.
More recently, QatarEnergy and Dubai-based ENOC Group inked a decade-long condensate supply agreement in July.
