Kuwait, April 2 (KUNA) -- Sheikh Thamer Ali Al-Sabah, president of the national security bureau of Kuwait, Wednesday lauded the "distinguished and deep ties " that bind the countries of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) with NATO.
Speaking to KUNA after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers with the four members of ICI, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, Shiekh Thamer said he was tasked by First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah to attend the meeting held at NATO headquarters today.
"We were seeking to hold such a meeting since the launch of the ICI in 2004. Our meeting today reflects the sincere desire to upgrade the cooperation on the basis of common values and interests," he told KUNA.
Sheikh Thamer noted that Kuwait began a constructive dialogue with NATO in the first half of 2004 which resulted in Kuwait announcing its acceptance to join the ICI as soon as it was launched in 2004.
Since that time Kuwait-NATO ties developed constantly through exchange of visits from both sides including technical and military delegations, he said.
Kuwait benefited from some of the expertise of NATO within its Individual and Partnership Cooperation Programme , IPCP, since the time it was called Individual Cooperation Programme , ICP, announced by the NATO foreign ministers in Berlin in 2011.
"I am grateful for the swift ratification of IPCP to which Kuwait was the first ICI country to join," he said and noted the interest of other countries to benefit from it.
He said that there are embassies of 18 NATO countries in Kuwait and he hoped hat Kuwait will soon appoint an ambassador to NATO headquarters.
"We, in the state of Kuwait, regard that our developing ties with NATO comes within the framework of the increasing role of Kuwait in the region and outside," he said.
Sheikh Thamer stressed that the cooperation between Kuwait and NATO crystallized by the signing of an agreement on exchange of secret information in 2006 and the creation of NATO-ICC regional centre in Kuwait for which Kuwait has assigned a suitable place in the diplomatic enclave.
He noted that NATO chief Rasmussen was to visit Kuwait in the first week of March to sign a transit agreement but it was postponed due to the Ukraine crisis.
"We have renewed our invitation to the NATO Secretary General on behalf of the first deputy prime minister and foreign minister to visit Kuwait as soon as possible," he said. (end) nk.ibi