UK Prime Minister Theresa May has arrived in Bahrain to expand ties with Arab countries of the Persian Gulf region, ignoring international calls to scrap the trip due to the widespread violations of human rights by some of those countries.
May was welcomed by Bahrain’s Prime Minister Prince Khalifah bin Salman al-Khalifah upon her arrival at Bahrain International Airport in Manama on Monday.
Before departing London for a two-day visit of the tiny Persian Gulf country, May said she was headed there to lay the foundations for “a new chapter” in ties with members of the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council, or (P)GCC, which is formed by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.
The expansion of ties is critical now because the UK plans to leave the European Union (EU), May noted.
“There is so much we can do together – whether it is helping one another to prevent terrorist attacks, (Persian) Gulf investment regenerating…