David Cameron and His Majesty the King of Bahrain Make a Statement

The Prime Minister and His Majesty the King of Bahrain had a warm and productive meeting today in London.

The Prime Minister set out his Government?s ambition to reinforce ties with the Gulf, and specifically with the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The leaders looked back on an already rich history of partnership between the UK and the Kingdom of Bahrain, founded in the 1971 Treaty of Friendship, the fortieth anniversary of which would be marked next year.

The Prime Minister and His Majesty agreed that the two countries should go further, and build a bilateral relationship for the future. The leaders agreed to expand existing co-operation between their countries across the board including on culture, education, defence and security, trade and investment and foreign policy and they decided to establish a joint Steering Committee to take this forward. They agreed that a renewed focus on boosting trade links would bring great benefit to the UK and Bahraini economies.

There was also a good discussion of current foreign policy issues. There was agreement on the importance of success in delivering a stable Afghanistan able to manage its own security.

On the Middle East, the two leaders agreed on the need for urgent progress towards a two state solution ? a secure Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state ? and on the importance of implementing in full the recent UN Security Council Resolution on Iran?s nuclear programme.