Bahrain announces UK inclusion in key security pact with US
Bahrain signed the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement with the Biden administration in September 2023; Manama plans to turn it into a multilateral agreement with more members amid regional threats.
MANAMA — Bahrain announced on Friday its plan to expand a key security pact signed last year with the United States to include the United Kingdom, as the gulf state looks to bolster its security and intelligence arrangements amid heightened regional threats.
Bahrain signed the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement, also known as C-SIPA, with the United States in September 2023 to enhance cooperation between the countries' militaries and boost intelligence sharing.
Opening the Manama Dialogue, held annually by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Bahrain's foreign minister, Abdullatif al-Zayani, said the C-SIPA was not a bilateral agreement but "the beginning of a multilateral framework."
"[It] aims to bring together countries with an equal interest in delivering stability and prosperity," he told the conference delegates, who included senior military leadership from across the world.
