NEW YORK: Under the patronage and attendance of HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, a ceremony to commemorate the 20th anniversary of signing the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) was held in New York late Wednesday. In a speech during the event, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s 79th session, HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled affirmed Kuwait’s continuous efforts to strengthen its strategic partnership with the NATO, especially since it was the first country to join the initiative in 2004.

He added that Kuwait is the headquarters of the first-of-its-kind NATO-ICI Regional Center, launched in 2017, which hosts many events and training courses. Kuwait is exerting great efforts to enhance political and security dialogue with ICI countries, with the aim of achieving stability in the region, he said. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg underlined Kuwait’s significant role in developing partnership between the alliance and ICI countries.

Over the past two decades, since Kuwait joined the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) launched by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Gulf state and the organization have been keen to strengthen cooperation in many fields with the aim of solidifying the foundations of security and stability in the region. Since Kuwait joined the ICI in December 2004 as the first Gulf country, many steps have been taken to strengthen ties, the most important of which was the opening of the headquarters of the NATO Regional Center and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative in Kuwait on January 23, 2017.

This made the center the first country outside the Euro-Atlantic region to host a regional center for NATO. This center is the first of its kind in the Arabian Gulf region and a training headquarters through which representatives of NATO members carry out specialized training and advisory tasks in all technical fields for government agencies in Kuwait and the GCC countries who are members of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.

Since joining the initiative, Kuwait has contributed to various activities organized by NATO until it became a key partner in the initiative, hosting the (NATO and the Gulf States Confronting Common Challenges through the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative) conference in December 2006 and joining the Partners Program for Individual Cooperation, which was held and adopted in 2014.

In November 2018, Kuwait and NATO member states took another important step to strengthen bilateral relations, as Kuwait opened its first diplomatic mission with NATO in the Belgian capital, Brussels. It also hosted, in mid-December 2019, events celebrating the 15th anniversary of the launch of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.

The past twenty years have witnessed many visits between senior Kuwaiti officials and NATO to enhance joint cooperation in several areas, the most important of which are energy, maritime security, cyber defense, disaster management, and combating terrorism, in addition to coordinating common positions on regional and global issues.

The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative was launched during the Summit of Heads of State and Governments held in the Turkish capital, Ankara, in June 2004, with the aim of contributing to enhancing security and stability, especially in the Middle East, through a presentation of practical cooperation between the countries of the region and NATO countries in various security fields. The initiative is based on several principles that are based on the concept of partnership and the mutual interests of NATO and the countries of the region and take into account their diversity and special needs.

In addition, it constitutes a separate path in the field of internationally recognized cooperation initiatives, with consideration of the completion of the process of other international initiatives, especially the G8 and the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative relies on the principle of comprehensiveness, so it remains open to all interested countries in the Middle East region that are committed to the goals and content of the initiative, especially combating terrorism and preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The initiative has a list of activities covering six different areas, and the joining countries can choose from among them what suits them. The first of these areas relates to defense reform and preparing its budget, while the second one deals with military cooperation and training, and the third deals with cooperation in the field of combating terrorism.

Meanwhile, the fourth area deals with cooperation against the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their carriers, while the fifth deals with cooperation in ensuring border security, and the sixth within the framework of developing civil emergency plans, including participation in training and rehabilitation courses and exercises on rescue operations in disaster situations. The Istanbul Cooperation Initiative was preceded by a series of high-level consultations conducted by NATO Secretary-General Ambassador Minuto Rizzo during May, September, and December of 2004 with the countries of the GCC, where those countries first showed interest in this initiative. — KUNA