Hague in his keynote address also thanked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, First Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Bahrain Defence Force, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa for his warm words of friendship extended to the UK at the 2012 Manama Dialogue.
Hague reiterated the extension of the strong bonds of friendship between Bahrain and the UK and added that the UK supported Bahrain’s political dialogue process calling on all sides to play a constructive role and the sustained comprehensive reform in building stability in Bahrain.
Delivering the keynote address at the ninth Manama Dialogue, he called for Syria to turn a new leaf in 2014. The Syrian conflict must turn the corner in 2014. “Failure to turn the corner by 2014 will result in a humanitarian crisis of potentially unmanageable proportions. Over four million Syrians are expected to be rendered homeless by the end of 2014. That would be 20 per cent of the overall Syrian population out of its borders. This could also result in more pain for women and minorities,” Hague added.
“The agreements to eradicate Syrian chemical weapons and setting the dates for the Geneva 2014 peace conference on January 22 have brought about changes. Ending the Syrian conflict will be an extraordinarily difficult task. It requires them to realize that they stand to gain much from negotiations than from continuing the crisis,” he said.
“The aid now supplied is not enough to support the Syrian refugees, he added. The UN appeal for Syria is 40 per cent underpaid now. All the countries that promised donations have to play their part in full before the Kuwait summit in mid January. Peace for Syria is an essential must and the parties going to the Geneva conclave have to be ready for compromise to ensure that peace is achieved at any cost under the Geneva communiqué issued last year, which calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body with all executive powers made of opposition and regime members, said the UK politician.
“A second issue is the promise of a two-state solution, that must come true for Palestine and Israel in 2014,” he said.
“Having come a long way it should not be allowed to falter, for if it does, then the solution leading to a two –state entity could be gone forever. Courage and decisiveness should be called for by both sides and the European Union and the Arab nations must be ready to play a role in providing the incentive needed to reach a settlement.
“In the case of Iran, 2014 must be the year in which the joint action plan is implemented and succeed in negotiations on a comprehensive agreement. “While we recognize and welcome the change in tone and substance from the Iranian government on the nuclear issue, the power of diplomacy has to be tested. The alternatives are Iranian nuclear programme proceeding on its current plans or it continues with the conflict bringing in regional issues,” he added.
He deplored the incident in Yemen and called for the defeat of all those responsible for the acts. Support from the UK, he said, was forthcoming in Libya, Tunisia and all the Arab Spring geographies. He expressed solidarity with these nations in nurturing democracy and freedom in these countries.
Turning to diplomatic relations with the Arabian Gulf countries, he added that the new British government decided to reinvigorate British diplomacy in the Arabian Gulf region and to reverse the neglect shown by previous governments.
“We are extending our cooperation of defence and security with countries in the Arabian Gulf deliberately and for a long term encompassing cyber security and terrorism as well as our armed forces working together. We will remain solidly committed to intensifying and building up these places based on common interest,” he added.
Bilateral trade increased 30 per cent in the last two years alone. We see the Middle East as one of immense opportunity and achievements and priorities, Hague added.
Dr John Chipman, Director General and CEO of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which is organizing the Manama dialogue dubbed 2013 the year of living tactically. He called for strategies and diplomacy to pave the way to resumption of peace.