It is hard to overstate the significance of the visit to London earlier this month of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The scale and breadth of the agreements signed under his supervision and that of Prime Minister Boris Johnson exceeded all expectations in the comprehensive nature of their coverage of issues affecting our mutual prosperity, security and global vision. They are at one and the same time an acknowledgement of the past and of the firm foundations on which they were built, but also a leap, a “Partnership for the Future”, touching on those areas where the world has moved on and needs fleet-footed partners to do the same.
Despite our long history together, Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague pledged, when they came to office in 2010, to restore the UK’s regional relationships which they felt their predecessors had rather let slip, in what they described as a “Gulf Initiative”. In 2010, the first Taskforce between the UAE and UK was inaugurated and it has met steadily over the years handling defence, business, culture and education. Skillfully guided throughout by UAE Presidential Adviser Dr Anwar Gargash, who for so long was the Minister of State at the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this taskforce set and met ambitious challenges related to new targets for trade and investment and was a hub for the building of a common regional security and defence perspective vital to both states.
I like to believe today’s announcements build on the trust engendered by this patient work, but they are truly on a scale that Dr Gargash and I would not have imagined in our first meetings. So many things catch the eye. We will now have a Partnership for the Future, handled personally at the highest level of Government, focusing on sustainable prosperity and global issues. Within the compass of these pillars will come the building blocks our peoples will need in order to have confidence that, in a world of many uncertainties, there exists the mechanisms to keep them and their families safe and ensure their future.
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Sheikh Zayed arrives at Heathrow Airport in London at the start of his first official visit to Britain on June 10, 1969. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth II leads Sheikh Zayed, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, through Buckingham Palace, London, on June 13, 1969. Getty Images -
Sheikh Zayed, Queen Elizabeth II, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed and Prince Philip in Abu Dhabi, 1979. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth II with Sheikh Zayed during her visit to the UAE in 1979. Photo: Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, vice chairman for the Abu Dhabi Authority for Cultural Affairs and adviser to the Ministry of Presidential Affairs -
Queen Elizabeth II during her UAE visit in 1979. Photo: Ramesh Shukla -
The queen during her official visit to the UAE in 1979. Photo: Ramesh Shukla -
The inauguration of Le Meridien in Abu Dhabi with Queen Elizabeth II and Sheikh Zayed in 1979. Photo: Le Meridien Abu Dhabi -
Queen Elizabeth II and Sheikh Zayed on the latter's visit to England in 1989. Photo: Centre for Documentation and Research -
Sheikh Zayed and UK Prime Minister Edward Heath at the Dorchester Hotel, London, June 16 1969. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth II at a lunch at Al Mushrif Palace hosted by Sheikh Khalifa, President of the UAE. Photo: Ian Jones -
Queen Elizabeth II with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid at Emirates Palace on November 25, 2010 in Abu Dhabi during her state visit to the Middle East. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth II arrives at Emirates Palace with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for the unveiling of Zayed National Museum on November 25, 2010. Andrew Henderson / The National -
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, on November 24, 2010. Andrew Henderson / The National -
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa arrives in Windsor for a state visit to the UK as the guest of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Photo: Ian Jones -
Queen Elizabeth II with Sheikh Khalifa and Prince Phillip on the Royal Dais in Windsor, as Sheikh Khalifa began a state Visit to the UK in 2013. AP Photo -
Queen Elizabeth, Sheikh Khalifa and Prince Philip leave after the inspection of the Guard of Honour at Windsor Castle. AP Photo -
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Force, with Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, at Clarence House on December 10, 2020 in London. Getty Images -
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces , stands for a photograph with Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prior to a meeting at No 10 Downing Street on December 10, 2020. Ministry of Presidential Affairs -
British Prime Minister David Cameron greets the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed at 10 Downing Street on October 16, 2014 in London. Getty Images -
Queen Elizabeth ll inaugurates the Dubai World Trade Centre in 1979 as part of her tour of the UAE. Here she is appointing the Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George. The honour is conferred on people holding positions of authority. Tim Graham / Getty Images -
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (left) is seen on the occasion of the inauguration of Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, while Queen Elizabeth is delivering speech in the presence of Sheikh Rashid be Saeed Al Maktoum and Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum on February 25, 1979. National Archives -
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II sits beside Sheikh Rashid Bun Saeed Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, right, on the Sheikh's new dhow, as they are taken on a sightseeing tour of Dubai, on February 26, 1979. AP Photo -
Sheikh Zayed with Prince Charles, Princess Diana and Zaki Nusseibeh, Abu Dhabi, 1989. Photo: Zaki Nusseibeh. Courtesy of the Akkasah Centre for Photography -
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, upon arriving at Abu Dhabi airport, December 19, 2006. AFP -
British Prime Minister Tony Blair meets President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed on December 19, 2006, in Abu Dhabi. AFP
The scope of the Sovereign Investment Partnership, building on Mubadala’s $1 billion investment in UK’s life sciences, announced only in March 2021, to more than $13.5bn over the next five years will attract much attention. That it is focused on the newest technologies, clean and renewable energies and will tie in closely with research and job creation in both countries, delivers on many vital needs. In other elements of today’s unveilings, ADNOC, Masdar and BP will pool their knowledge to overcome challenges; improved broadband, a key UK Government domestic pledge, will be enhanced by an almost $700m investment; a memorandum of understanding will facilitate the transfer of knowledge on AI, and a joint Space committee will be formed, on the back of the UK’s renewed interest and the successful UAE Hope probe mission. While new existential extraterritorial threats have emerged with ferocity, the joint work that will take place on health and vaccines, and on climate, drought and the terrible implications of rising temperatures, will seek to respond to the adage that no one is safe until we are all safe.
Looking at the events surrounding the announcement, I felt strongly that there was something extra that was more than the sum of the various parts of these agreements, impressive though they were. So much of the modern world appears to be about mistrust, the deliberate undermining of fact, information or intent, so that no one believes anyone anymore. Ultimately the destruction of trust between states can only benefit those with ill intent to us all.
To see, therefore, two states making such commitments – and indeed personal commitments – to each other should surely reinforce the confidence of peoples whose personal and family security requires a degree of faith in those who lead them. The scale of the mutual pacts made cannot be forgotten easily, or be allowed to slip away, as they affect vital parts of each other’s infrastructure and well-being. They lay down markers to which future leaders must adhere.
The agreements recognise a changing Middle East. The recognition in the official communique of the Abraham Accords notes the benefits that economic relationships with Israel can have on the jobs and prosperity needed throughout the region, but in the same breath does not allow the issue of Palestine to be lost, if the Accords are to have their fullest effect. Whatever uncertainty there may be surrounding the role of the United States, or any external partners, the UAE and UK are saying that they are here for each other, and their new annual Strategic Dialogue will underpin that.
This moment has been long in the making, but even so I think we can call it a good day’s work, and a great start to the next fifty years, for both Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Mr Johnson.
