The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have formed a new military and trade partnership separate from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), according to a statement issued by the UAE.
The development on Tuesday comes amid heightened tensions within the GCC, a political and economic alliance of six countries that includes Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Oman.
According to the statement from the UAE Foreign Ministry, the new committee “is assigned to cooperate and coordinate between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in all military, political, economic, trade and cultural fields, as well as others, in the interest of the two countries”.
The GCC has faced an unprecedented crisis over the past six months amid a Saudi-led blockade of Qatar.
Representatives of the six countries were meeting in Kuwait on Tuesday for the council’s annual summit.
