US President Joe Biden on Thursday designated Qatar as a major non-NATO ally of the United States, fulfilling the promise that he had made to Qatar earlier this year, the White House said.
The designation is granted by the United States to close, non-NATO allies that have strategic working relationships with the US military.
Biden had told Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in January during a meeting at the White House that he would grant Qatar the special status.
President Biden had, in the meeting with the Amir, highlighted 50 years of partnership between the two countries, noting that the past year, the partnership has been central to many of the most vital US interests: Relocating tens of thousands of Afghans; maintaining stability in Gaza and providing lifesaving assistance to the Palestinians; deterring threats across the Middle East; and a lot more.
The US State Department says on its website that the designation “is a powerful symbol of the close relationship the United States shares with those countries and demonstrates our deep respect for the friendship for the countries to which it is extended”.
