This handout picture released by the Qatar News Agency (QNA) on June 19, 2023 shows the newly reopened Qatari embassy in Abu Dhabi after a six-year hiatus. (PHOTO / AFP)

The resumption of diplomatic relations between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)  signals that there is a brewing atmosphere of de-escalation, a regional strategy being pursued by Gulf countries amid broadening peace-building efforts, analysts said.

The thaw is the latest in a series of headline-grabbing rapprochements following a China-brokered peace deal between regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran in March. 

A research fellow at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, told China Daily that past differences between the UAE and Qatar has been “ideological”

Last month, the Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs announced that flights between Bahrain and Qatar would resume on May 25, after the two countries decided in April to restore their diplomatic ties.

READ MORE: Qatar, UAE announce restoration of diplomatic representation

On June 19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar said in a statement that “based on the Al-Ula agreement and the joint keenness on strengthening the bilateral relations”, Qatar and the UAE would restore their diplomatic relations by reopening, on the same day, the Qatar embassy in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi and its consulate in Dubai, as well as the UAE embassy in Doha.

In a similar statement, the UAE’S Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the two sides “underlined that this step comes as embodiment of the will of the leadership of the two counties, and in consolidation of the march joint Arab action, to achieve the aspirations of the two brotherly people”.

The 2021 Al-Ula agreement among Egypt and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries – UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman – at the 41st GCC Summit in Saudi Arabia, ended a three-year boycott of Qatar that was imposed in June 2017 for Doha’s alleged backing of terrorist groups and activities, which it has always denied.

However, due to a lack of consensus on some issues, normalization efforts between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors had been delayed.

Clemens Chay, a research fellow at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, told China Daily that past differences between the UAE and Qatar has been “ideological”, but Abu Dhabi has already shown its willingness to push ahead with reconciliation, albeit gradually, with the restoration of air links. 

“The resumption of official diplomatic representation took longer as the UAE, in line with its conciliatory foreign policy, felt necessary to pace the mending of fences in tandem with Bahrain’s policies. 

“Certainly, there is a clear appetite for regional de-escalation in the Middle East, but the drive emanating from the Gulf states remains the strongest,” said Chay.

He added that Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup last year also provided the region’s leaders  with “a positive outlook for cooperation”. 

READ MORE: Official: Qatar, UAE in process of restoring diplomatic ties

“What is also noteworthy is that previous meetings between senior officials from both sides, whether in the region or on the sidelines of other set-piece meetings, also focused on trade and investment projects — which should shift into greater focus going forward,” said Chay.

Rasha Al Joundy, senior researcher at the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre in the UAE,  said the announcement of the restoration of UAE-Qatar  relations itself  “was not surprising” since it “is considered part of many previous steps taken toward this goal”. 

She said the UAE-Qatar relations can be seen as part of a general inclination to adopt a de-escalation strategy in the region.  For example, for the first time, she said all the GCC and regional countries are working together to back an Arab-Iran peace-building effort, as well as the Gulf countries' neutral stance in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.