UAE a 'key partner' for US in region

International Defence Exhibition and Conference. KT file photo

The UAE is a "key US partner" in the Middle East, according to a new report from the US-UAE Business Council.
The report - entitled an Enduring Partnership - is being released ahead of the upcoming International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX), which begins this Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
According to the report, the close defence ties between the two nations began during Operation Desert Storm, the 1991 effort to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
"An early ally during the war, the UAE allowed American plans and ships to operate out of its territory," the report notes. "The Emirates also carried out airstrikes and participated in the force that liberated Kuwait City."
Since then, the UAE has partnered with the US in a number of other important theatres of operation, such as Bosnia, Somalia, Kosov, Afghanistan and Libya, as well as - more recently - in operations against Daesh militants in Syria and Iraq.
The report notes that "The fundamentals of the US-UAE security and defense relationship are unlikely to change in the foreseeable future."
"In fact, they are likely to only become stronger," the report adds. "However...some of the details of the relationship will change."
The UAE's experiences of the conflict in Yemen, the report note, will likely lead to the UAE and US working together to enhance the UAE's sustainment, logistics and maintenance capabilities, especially when it comes to expeditionary forces being sent abroad.
"Given the significantly increased scope and tempo of military and defence cooperation between the US and the UAE in recent years, both countries are interested and have begun the process of negotiating a revised and expanded Defense Cooperation Agreement," the report notes. "This agreement would institutionalise the two countries levels of defense cooperation and provide a framework for even greater cooperation in future."
reporters@Khaleejtimes.com