Defence arrangement signing, a major achievement: Lindsay

Manama

Signing of the defence arrangement in last December and opening of Royal Navy headquarters last month were the major achievements made during his tenure as British Ambassador to Bahrain, said Iain Lindsay yesterday here.

Addressing the media, Lindsay, who will take up a new responsibility in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, said that the work for naval base had already begun at Mina Salman and that it would be completed during the second half of next year.

He said that the relation between Britain and Bahrain had improved during the four-year period. “My first challenge was to rebuild trust and confidence between two countries since our relation with Bahrain went through a different phase in 2010 and earlier years,” he said.

As a result of reconciliation process, Britain started reform support projects in Bahrain, especially in the field of human rights. The United Kingdom has been instrumental in bringing reforms in Bahraini government, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior, National Institute of Human Rights, Ombudsman’s Office etc. The reforms programme budget has reached to 2 million pounds, Lindsay said.

A number of complaints have gone up at the Ombudsman’s office since people have started showing confidence on the office. Addressing people who complain about human rights violations, he said, “Go to the Ombudsman and take your complaints to him.”

Meanwhile, he said that Bahrain had been going in the right direction. But still there are some issues pertaining in the Kingdom. British government is keen to see faster progress in Bahrain, he said.

The threat of Iran

Commenting on Iranian interference in the Gulf region, he said, “We reject Iranian interference in the GCC region.”

Britain recognises the concern that the GCC countries have expressed. After the nuclear agreement, Britain pushed for five-year arms embargo on Iran to be continued in order to safeguard the interest of GCC countries, he said.

He said that Britain would continue to provide assistance to GCC countries to enable them to beat the external threat. “We hope, the Iranian behaviour will improve after the nuke deal,” he said.

Improvement in business ties

Over the last five years, the export from UK to Bahrain has gone up by 33 per cent. New British companies have entered into Bahraini market, the British Ambassador said. The National Express of the UK has been providing public bus service in the Kingdom, with the association of AMA Group. Last year, London hosted a summit on Islamic Finance, he said, highlighting the trade relation between Manama and London.

GCC is one of UK’s five major export markets. Moreover, Bahrain is located in a strategically important area. The workforce of Bahrain is best trained in the region. Bahrain is regarded as the best-regulated and more open market in the region. Britain will continue to see rise in business in Bahrain, he said.

As many as 90 British companies have branches in Bahrain. 500 companies have commercial agencies in the Kingdom. On the other hand, 350 Bahraini companies have UK partners, he said.