Qatar dispute puts UK-Gulf trade talks on hold
9 Aug 2017 10:38 PM IST
Plans for a prestigious UK-Gulf Co-operation Council meeting in London this year have been put on hold, threatening UK plans for a quick free-trade deal with some of the richest economies in the world after Brexit.
Theresa May promised last year to host the firs t meeting of the GCC nations outside the Gulf in December as part of a symbolic show of the UK's strengthening trade and security ties with the regional bloc.
But Gulf nation sources said the two-month dispute between Qatar and three other Gulf states has put planning for the summit on hold. There have been suggestions that if the dispute worsens Qatar will be suspended from the GCC, or that the organisation itself will fold.
Qatar has filed a legal action with the World Trade Organisation over an air, land and trade embargo imposed by other Gulf states in a legal dispute that could take years to resolve.
The complete collapse of the GCC, which was formed in 1981, would complicate British efforts to set up free-trade deals to supplement the loss of EU trade post-Brexit.
In 2016, UK trade with GCC states stood at £30bn, higher than its exports to China and more than double those to India.
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