RIYADH, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The 40th summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ended on Tuesday in Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, with a call for unity after discussing ways to tackle the rifts among GCC states.
The summit was chaired by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who, in his opening speech, urged the Gulf region to unite against Iran's "hostility."
He slammed Iran's continued "aggressive policies" in the region for undermining the stability of neighboring countries, while urging the international community to take necessary measures to ensure energy supplies and the freedom of maritime navigation.
The Saudi leader also affirmed his country's respect of the legal rights of Palestinians and the Saudi-led coalition's support for the Yemeni government.
After the speech, the Gulf leaders and representatives had a closed-door meeting to discuss the topics on the agenda.
The summit concluded by releasing the Riyadh Declaration which stresses on achieving global competitiveness.
The declaration confirmed that the GCC states seek to achieve higher rankings globally through the utilization of modern technology and science to find solutions to common challenges facing the region.
Securing water, energy and agriculture, and finding solutions to communicable and non-communicable diseases are considered among the challenges.
The summit highlighted GCC's goal to achieve coordination, integration and interdependence among the member states in all fields in order to achieve their unity.
The declaration said that any aggression against a member state would be considered aggression against all GCC states.
The member states also agreed on achieving military and security integration, economic unity and strategic partnerships.
At a press conference following the summit, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud reaffirmed the unity of the Gulf group, saying even some existing problems will not reduce the organization's strength and cohesion.
GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani said that the summit praised and will support the efforts made by the Kuwaiti emir to bridge the rift that has damaged the relations among some member countries.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani received an invitation from the Saudi king to attend the meeting, but he did not appear despite the expectation that his attendance could lead to an end to the Gulf crisis.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have been imposing a diplomatic and economic blockade on Qatar since June 2017, citing that the gas-rich Gulf country supports terrorism and interferes in their domestic affairs.
Qatar has repeatedly denied the charges, while rejecting a list of demands from the Saudi-led coalition to change its foreign policies.
It was decided that the next GCC summit will be held in Bahrain, while Kuwait's former Finance Minister Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf was named as the new secretary-general, whose term will begin in April 2020.
