US State Department called this visit an important step in strengthening regional economic and security ties….reports Asian Lite News
The United States has welcomed the visit of Jordanian King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi to Iraq, calling it an important step towards boosting relations between Amman, Cairo and Baghdad.
US State Department called this visit an important step in strengthening regional economic and security ties.
“The United States welcomes today’s historic visit to Baghdad by the President of Egypt and King of Jordan. This visit is an important step in strengthening regional economic and security ties between Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan and to advance regional stability,” the State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement on Sunday.
The visit of the two leaders to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi was held under the mechanism that was launched in March 2019, Sputnik reported. This has been the first visit of an Egyptian president to Iraq within the past three decades.
During the summit, the leaders agreed to intensify the cooperation between them in view of the challenges faced by the Middle East region.
Sundays meeting “is an important message to our people that we are mutually supportive and unified to serve our people and the people of the region”, a statement of al-Kadhimi’s media office quoted him as saying.
He said that the most important challenges facing the three countries are the Covid-19 pandemic, difficult economic conditions, security and terrorism, according to the statement.
Calling on the three countries to unify their stances, Al-Kadhimi said: “we will continue to coordinate on major regional issues, such as the Syrian, Libyan, Yemeni and Palestinian files, to assist our brothers in these countries to bypass the challenges and crises.”
He noted that the three countries are in the stage of implementing projects in the fields of electrical interconnection, agriculture, transportation, and food security, as well as in the development of infrastructure in financial and banking relations, the statement said.
Later in the day, a statement issued after the meeting said that the three leaders agreed to cooperate and coordinate in various areas, including the electrical interconnection and linking gas transport networks between Iraq and Egypt via Jordan, as well as building an oil pipeline connecting the Iraqi oil-hub of Basra to the Jordanian port of Aqaba.
The statement added that Iraq and Jordan support Egypt’s stance on the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile River.
It stressed the need to activate efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace that meets all legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state. (ANI/IANS)
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