A senior official at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) underlined the current partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the framework of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), hailing Abu Dhabi"s hosting of the alliance"s International Conference on "NATO-UAE Relations and the Way Forward in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative." The conference, held recently in Abu Dhabi provided an ideal chance for exchanging views with the UAE leadership on the current security challenges NATO faces in Afghanistan as well as on the Middle East peace process, noted Nicola de Santis, NATO"s head of the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Initiative Countries Section in the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, at a press conference at NATO"s headquarters. Among the most outstanding results of Abu Dhabi October meeting was the intent to drive forward cooperation, at all levels, with the UAE and other partners of the ICI, according to De Santis who cited the signing, in October, the Agreement on the Security of Information between NATO and the UAE. This agreement, the first of its kind between the UAE and NATO, is a facilitator for the exchange of classified information between NATO and the United Arab Emirates. The Conference brought together the Secretary General of NATO, the North Atlantic Council, the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and NATO officials, with high level government representatives, opinion leaders, academics and senior scholars from countries in the Gulf region invited in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, according to a report of the UAE news agency "WAM". The aims of this conference were to promote a better mutual understanding between NATO and ICI invited countries and to introduce fresh perceptions and ideas from the region on the way forward in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.
