The United Arab Emirates has resumed postal services to Qatar nearly three years after they were suspended due to a Gulf Arab political dispute, reported Reuters.

Following instructions of the UAE government, Emirates Post Group suspended all postal services to Qatar in all its postal offices in the UAE from June 6, 2017. However, the United Arab Emirates has recently restored mail services to Qatar, frozen for more than two years amid a diplomatic rift, after a regional meeting attended by both Gulf states and the United Nations’ postal agency.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the move indicated a broader mending of ties between the countries mired in a wider diplomatic dispute that has hurt trade and split the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), reported Bloomberg.

The UN’s Universal Postal Union said it hosted a regional meeting last month in Bern, Switzerland, that brought together officials from the U.A.E, Qatar and other Arab nations involved in the diplomatic dispute. The talks sought to encourage the countries to send post to one another and improve services.

“The discussions were very positive,” UPU spokesman David Dadge said. “Hopefully this is a sign of better arrangements in the future.”

The Bloomberg said, when they inquired at an Emirates Post office in the U.A.E. about sending a package to Qatar on Monday, staff said the service had been available since the previous day.

A Feb. 6 internal circular from Emirates Post seen by Bloomberg ordered the restoring of the route from the U.A.E. from Feb. 9, citing “work necessity” and “demand on services.” The mail will be routed through Oman via Oman Post, it said. There are no direct flights between the U.A.E. and Qatar.

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Khadiza Begum

Content Writer

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