Saudi King Salman invited Qatar's emir to attend the 40th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit on Tuesday, reported Qatari state media without noting if Qatar has responded.  

According to the report, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani received the invitation in a written letter from the Saudi King Salman bin Abdelaziz Al Saud about the December 10 GCC summit, a regional summit of six gulf nations. 

The union has evolved to become more integrated in terms of economic, political and military cooperation, primarily to reduce their dependence on oil economy but also to counter Iran's influence in the region.  

The letter first reached Qatari Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, when he met with Secretary General of the GCC Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani on Tuesday.  

It's the third time the Saudi king has invited the Qatari emir for a GCC summit since a crisis erupted in June 2017 between Qatar and a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, on issues that the coalition has voiced against Doha.

The Qatari ruler was absent from the two previous Gulf summits but sent ministers to attend the meetings since the economic boycott led by Saudi Arabia came into effect.  

On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic, trade and travel ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting "terrorism." Qatar has repeatedly denied the allegations as "baseless."  

The Saudi-led coalition later issued a 13-point list of demands, including the shutdown of Al Jazeera news channel, limiting ties with Iran and expelling Turkish troops stationed in the country, as a prerequisite for lifting the blockade.  

Qatar rejected the demands, denouncing them as an attempt to infringe on the country's sovereignty. 

A positive outcome of this invitation was expected, said Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Al Jarallah earlier this month with hopes of broken ties to be repaired soon and GCC countries unified to function as before.     

One of the signs that Jarallah has noted was that the participation of soccer teams from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain in the Qatar-hosted Arabian Gulf Cup indicated progress towards dismantling of the Gulf crisis.   

He also mentioned briefly that other steps are being taken to resume the ties with Doha without disclosing further details on any specific agenda.  
 

(With input from Xinhua)