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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Long-term vision gave good dividends

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MUSCAT: The diplomatic policy of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos and nation-building efforts have come in for special praise from various quarters, especially in the regional matters as the region has been always politically volatile. “Qaboos was a nation-builder,” said Abdullah Baabood, a professor of Gulf regional studies at Qatar University, was quoted by Washington Post.


“Today, despite their sadness over the passing of their leader, the Omanis are entitled to be proud of their political system, which had never plunged in a vacuum and which had consolidated a state of institutions that was founded and built by Sultan Qaboos. When you have such a stable foundation, you guarantee that the state will withstand shocks and crises,” said Salman al Dossary, former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al Awsat newspaper.


António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, has praised the great contribution of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos’s in the field of regional and international diplomacy.


“Sultan Qaboos championed a foreign policy of independence and nonalignment. He became a rare leader who maintained ties with a wide range of powers,” said the New York Times.


Sultan Qaboos embarked on an ambitious programme of building a modern nation, promoting trade, education, health, transport, and tourism. After five decades of his rule, Oman stands proudly as a modern, progressive and a leading nation in the region, one with a reputation forged by his independent and open outlook in building harmonious relations in the Gulf and beyond,” said the Gulf News in an opinion.


Sultan Qaboos was also an architect of Oman’s foreign policy, one that looked beyond the Gulf and embraced its strategic position at the Strait of Hormuz. When tensions were high, Sultan Qaboos’s personal leadership style helped smooth the turbulent waters in the Gulf,” the opinion added.


Qaboos understood that diplomacy is worth pursuing to manage differences that can’t be solved overnight.


Sultan Qaboos also had strongly emphasised on the need to focus on plans and programmes that enhanced the living conditions of Omani citizens. These directives paved the way for significant progress towards achieving most of the Millennium Development Goals at the time and enabled the Sultanate to move forward steadily and confidently.


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