ALGIERS, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- After a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 31st session of the Arab League (AL) summit concluded here on Wednesday with the adoption of the Algiers Declaration.
Analysts believe that significant consensus achieved at the conference could help tackle new and old issues plaguing Arab states, and the collective call for more global cooperation would also bring more regional development opportunities.
FOOD, ENERGY
The two-day summit came at a time when new challenges are dramatically reshaping the region's agenda.
In an opening address to the summit, AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the region was central to global energy supplies and their prices, a primary victim of climate change and water scarcity, and one whose food security faces grave danger.
With development challenges in the Arab world, including food and energy security, at the center of the agenda of the summit, he called for an integrated Arab vision to deal with the pressing issues.
According to the declaration, the Arab leaders called for cooperation in ensuring food and energy security, confronting climate change and ending the crises in some Arab countries.
Experts believe an Arab consensus on common development issues could enhance regional cohesion.
Taoufik Boukadeh, a professor at the University of Algiers, said that the Arab leaders attached great importance to economic cooperation to ensure the security of the Arab food basket and reduce dependence on imports.
Ding Long, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, noted that given the enormous challenges facing the Arab world, it is meaningful for the leaders to sit together and reach agreements on issues including development as well as food and energy security.
REGIONAL STABILITY
The Arab leaders also agreed on holding unwavering stands for preserving regional peace and unity, especially concerning Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Lebanon.
In the opening address, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune reiterated the centrality of the decades-old Palestinian cause, calling it the mother of all questions.
The declaration also said that the leaders reiterated their full support for establishing an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital while urging Israel to halt its attacks against Palestinians and end its blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Algeria had hosted talks among Palestinian factions over the past months to discuss a proposal for reconciliation that would pave the way for the elections to establish a national unity government.
Several weeks before the summit, a total of 14 Palestinian factions, including the Fatah party and Hamas, signed a reconciliation deal in Algiers to end their 15-year-long division in the presence of Tebboune.
According to Azzam al-Ahmed, head of the Fatah delegation, they signed the agreement to get rid of the malignant cancer of division that has entered the Palestinian body and remain optimistic about its outcome.
One of the significant achievements at the summit was the common ground of Arab states on voicing support for the Palestine cause, Boukadeh noted.
SEEKING CLOSER COOPERATION
With the influence of external forces waning in recent years, relations between Middle East countries have improved, and different factions have also developed in a more balanced direction. All this has helped create a shared aspiration among regional states to seek their own development path.
Aboul Gheit said that Arab states need to strengthen their partnership worldwide more than ever, adding that they look forward to the first China-Arab summit and the fifth Arab-African Summit, both to be held in Saudi Arabia.
Analysts believe that Arab countries' seeking more cooperation outside the region will bring more development opportunities and contribute to regional stability.
Li Weijian, senior fellow of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said that Arab countries are forming new commonalities, including a focus on domestic development, regional issues and international relations, which will open up a new phase for the AL. ■
Source : Xinhua