DOHA, Qatar

Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s foreign ministers held talks Sunday in Doha on developing bilateral relations.

The discussions were part of the 158th preparatory meeting of the Ministerial Council for the 44th session of the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

“Today we held the first meeting of the Executive Committee of the Qatari-Saudi Coordination Council in Doha, where we discussed ways to develop bilateral relations within the framework of the Executive Committee,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who is also the country’s prime minister, said in a statement.

The two ministers discussed ways “to deepen cooperation through initiatives that would advance relations in ways that meet the aspirations of the leadership of our countries and achieves the interests of our two brotherly people,” said Qatar’s Foreign Ministry.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah participated in the meeting.

Prince Faisal and Al-Thani discussed “a number of reports on the follow-up to the implementation of the decisions of the GCC Supreme Council issued by the 43rd summit in Riyadh.”

They also discussed “memoranda and reports submitted by the ministerial and technical committees and the Secretariat General.”

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi