UAE, UK To Form Strategic Defense Partnership

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Britain announced Tuesday their commitment to forming a strategic defense partnership.

According to a joint communique released by UAE state-run news agency WAM, the two countries said they were committed to further strengthening and developing a partnership in the fields of defense, trade and economy, among others.

The two sides have agreed on a collaboration concerning British fighter jet Typhoon and a number of new technologies, the communique said. The UAE has shown interest in buying 60 Typhoon fighter jets, a flagship product of British defense giant BAE Systems.

They also agreed that joint plans for the security of the UAE and the Gulf region shall be realized by increasing joint military exercises and training and by investing in the British military presence in the UAE.

Tied by their “historical close relationships,” the Gulf Arab state and Britain agreed to collaborate on “mutual defense interests against external and domestic threats,” the communique said without specifying the “threats”.

The communique was released as British Prime Minister David Cameron was wrapping up his two-day visit to the UAE.

The British prime minister, who left the UAE Tuesday for neighboring Saudi Arabia, said both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are ” Great Britain’s strongest allies in the Gulf Arab region.”

Xinhuanet