The 40th summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called for unity of member states in the absence of Qatari emir.  

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani received an invitation earlier from the Saudi king to attend Tuesday's meeting, but did not appear despite the expectations that his attendance could lead to an end to the Gulf crisis.  

He sent Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani in his place to the annual summit, Doha's highest representation since 2017. 

While stressing unity of member states, there was no mention about the progress of conciliation negotiation on the issue of the blockade during the meeting.   

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have been imposing a diplomatic and economic blockade on Qatar since June 2017, alleging 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, including closing down Al Jazeera TV, shutter a Turkish military base and reduce ties with Iran, etc.

The summit was chaired by the Saudi king, who, in his opening speech, urged the Gulf region to unite against Iran's "hostility". 

He slammed Iran's continuing "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. 

After the speech, the Gulf leaders and representatives had an approximately 20-minute 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, according to the declaration.  

The declaration also said that any aggression against a member state would be considered aggression against all GCC states, as they 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 welcomes and will support efforts made by the Kuwaiti emir to bridge the rift that has damaged the relations among some member countries. 

Efforts to end the row, including unannounced Qatari-Saudi talks in October, appeared to intensify after attacks in September on Saudi oil plants that initially halved the kingdom's output and pushed the region toward war. 

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. 

(With input from Xinhua, Reuters)