Foreign relations of Mauritania

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 September 2013.^[6]

Argentina is accredited to Mauritania from its embassy in Tunis, Tunisia.^[7][8]

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 30 January 2008.

Both countries established diplomatic relations onn 29 October 1994.^[9]

• Austria is accredited to Mauritania from its embassy in Rabat, Morocco^[10][11] and an honorary consulate in Nouakchott.^[12]
• Mauritania is accredited to Austria from its embassy in Berlin, Germany.^[13][14]

The government of Mauritania enjoys close ties with the government of the People's Republic of China. Diplomatic relations were opened in 1965,^[15] and the governments remain on good terms. In recent years, they have signed a series of agreements and exchanged a series of diplomatic gestures that have strengthened their relationship.

The Chinese government has recently shown particular interest in Mauritania's oil deposits. Oil production in Mauritania began in February 2006, and by May of the same year the Chinese and Mauritanian governments signed an agreement on social and economic cooperation.^[16] In October 2006, the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation began drilling oil wells in Mauritania, and has three other prospecting permits in Mauritania.^[17] The Mauritanian government sees oil production as a significant means of boosting economic growth.

During the campaign for Mauritania's presidential elections in March 2007, candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi praised Mauritania's growing ties with China, promising to "continue the path of strengthening the bilateral relations with all my efforts".^[18]

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 24 November 2004.^[19][20]

• Cyprus is accredited to Mauritania from its embassy in Tripoli.^[21]
• Mauritania is accredited to Cyprus from its embassy in Rome.^[22]

The relations date back to the colonial era when Mauritania was part of French West Africa.

Most of Mauritania's developmental assistance in the 1980s was provided by France, which was also the major supplier of private direct investment. Bilateral accords signed with France in 1961 provided for economic, financial, technical, cultural, and military cooperation and aid. Although Mauritania opposed France on Algerian independence, nuclear testing in the Sahara, and French arms sales to South Africa, ties remained cordial through the term. French citizens worked in Mauritania as technical assistants in the government, administrators, teachers, and judges. Daddah frequently traveled to France, and French development aid flowed to Mauritania. The level of French involvement rose markedly following the outbreak of hostilities in the Western Sahara. Between 1976 and 1979, when Mauritania unilaterally declared peace and withdrew from combat, French aircraft provided air support for Mauritanian troops fighting Polisario forces, and French paratroops were stationed at Nouadhibou.^[23]

Activity by Mauritanian dissidents in France, together with Mauritania's gradual policy shift toward the Polisario, resulted in a growing coolness toward Paris. In May 1979, Mauritania asked France to remove its troops from Nouadhibou. France continued to provide a high level of financial aid, although less than requested by the government, and this curtailment further strained ties. Following alleged accusations of Moroccan support of a coup attempt in March 1981, Haidalla again turned to France to obtain guarantees of Mauritania's territorial integrity. President of France Georges Pompidou and Haidalla concluded an accord in 1981, as Morocco threatened to carry the struggle against Polisario guerrillas into Mauritanian territory. As Morocco's advancing sand walls increasingly obligated Polisario guerrillas to use Mauritania as a staging area, President Haidalla and, later, President Taya sought and received guarantees of French support in August 1984 and June 1987.^[23]

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 June 2011.

Hungary is accredited to Mauritania from its embassy in Rabat, Morocco.^[24][25]

• Mauritania is accredited to Iceland from its embassy in Brussels, Belgium.^[26]
• Iceland is accredited to Mauritania from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Reykjavík.^[27]

India is accredited to Mauritania from its embassy in Bamako, Mali^[28][29] and an honorary consulate in Nouakchott.^[30]

• Mauritania is accredited to Indonesia from its embassy in Kuwait City, Kuwait.^[31]
• Both countries are full members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Mauritania declared war on Israel as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War,^[32] following the Arab League's collective decision (Mauritania was not admitted to the League until November 1973),^[33] and did not reverse that declaration until at least 1991.^[32] Until 1999, Israelis were seemingly oblivious to the ongoing state of war.^[32] Mauritania did not abide by moves to recognise Israel's right to exist in the same way as most other Arab countries, after the earlier 1967 Khartoum Resolution.

Little public information exists as to the state of war, and it has been inferred that the declaration of war has been reversed by:

• behind the scenes meetings between Mauritania and Israel in 1995 and 1996 said to be at the instigation of Mauritania's President Ould Taya;^[34]
• the establishment of unofficial "interest sections" in the respective Spanish embassies of the two capital cities in 1996,^[34] and;
• the exchange of diplomatic representatives in each other's countries from 27 October 1999.^[35]

In 1999 Mauritania became one of four members of the 22-member Arab League to recognize Israel as a sovereign state (the others being Egypt and Jordan)^{[who else?]}.^[36] This recognition was given by former president Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya along with his cooperation with United States anti-terrorism activities. The establishment of full diplomatic relations was signed in Washington DC on October 28, 1999. After the coup by the Military Council for Justice and Democracy in August 2005, recognition of Israel was maintained.

As a response to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, relations were frozen with Israel in January 2009.^[37] In February 2009, Mauritania recalled its ambassador from Israel,^[36] and on 6 March 2009 staff were evicted from the Israeli embassy in Nouakchott and given 48 hours to leave Mauritania.^[38] Israel officially closed the embassy later in the day, according to an announcement by its Foreign Affairs Ministry.^[39] By 21 March 2010 all diplomatic relations between the two states had officially ended.^[40]

• Italy is accredited to Mauritania from its embassy in Rabat, Morocco.^[41]
• Mauritania has an embassy in Rome.^[42]

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 29 November 1960.^[43]

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 18 September 1991.^[44]

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 11 September 1992.^[45]

• Both countries established diplomatic relations on 16 October 1989.^[46]
• Both countries are full members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Since Mauritania negotiated a border dispute with Mali in 1963, ties between the two countries have been mostly cordial.^[23] Mali and Mauritania have cooperated on several development projects, such as the OMVS^{[clarification needed]} and a plan to improve roads between Nouakchott and Bamako.^[23] This cooperation somewhat lessened Mali's dependence on Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire.^[23] Although relations were warm with other black African states, since 1965 the orientation of Mauritania's foreign policy has been geared towards relations with North African countries.

Both countries collaborate through the 5+5 economic forum.^[47]

• Mauritania is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.
• Mexico is accredited to Mauritania from its embassy in Algiers, Algeria and an honorary consulate in Nouakchott.

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 October 2003.^[48]

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 21 December 2009.^[49]

Prior to the December 1984 coup that brought Taya to power, the Mauritanian-Moroccan cooperation agency stated that relations between the two countries were on the mend in spite of alleged Moroccan complicity in a 1981 coup attempt and Mauritania's subsequent turn toward Algeria. Representatives from both sides initiated a series of low-level contacts that led to a resumption of diplomatic ties in April 1985. For Mauritania, the relaxation with Morocco promised to end the threat of Moroccan incursions, and it also removed the threat of Moroccan support for opposition groups formed during the presidency. Through the agreement with Mauritania, Morocco sought to tighten its control over the Western Sahara by denying the Polisario one more avenue for infiltrating guerrillas into the disputed territory.^[23]

Relations between Morocco and Mauritania continued to improve through 1986, reflecting President Taya's pragmatic, if unstated, view that only a Moroccan victory over the Polisario would end the guerrilla war in the Western Sahara. Taya made his first visit to Morocco in October 1985 (prior to visits to Algeria and Tunisia) in the wake of Moroccan claims that Polisario guerrillas were again traversing Mauritanian territory. The completion of a sixth berm just north of Mauritania's crucial rail link along the border with the Western Sahara, between Nouadhibou and the iron ore mines, complicated relations between Mauritania and Morocco. Polisario guerrillas in mid-1987 had to traverse Mauritanian territory to enter the Western Sahara, a situation that invited Morocco's accusations of Mauritanian complicity. Moreover, any engagements near the sixth berm would threaten to spill over into Mauritania and jeopardize the rail link.^[23]

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 4 December 2012.^[50]

• Mauritania is accredited to The Netherlands from its embassy in Brussels, Belgium and an honorary consulate in Hurdegaryp.^[51]
• The Netherlands is accredited to Mauritania from their embassy in Dakar, Senegal.^[52]

Pakistan and Mauritania maintain friendly relations, Pakistan has always supported Mauritania and so did Mauritania in the UN. Pakistan has provided equipment and training to Mauritanian Armed Forces, and is one of Pakistan's biggest trading partners

During the 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis, Mauritania cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar.^[53] Relations were reestablished in March 2021.^[54]

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 January 1965.^[55]

Serbia is accredited to Mauritania from its embassy in Rabat, Morocco^[56]

In the years following independence, Mauritania's principal ally in sub-Saharan Africa was Senegal, although the two countries have espoused different strategies for development.^[23] The growing split between blacks and Maures in Mauritania has, however, affected ties with Senegal, which sees itself as championing the rights of Mauritania's black minority.^[23] Under Taya, relations between the two countries were correct, even though each accused the other of harboring exiled dissidents.^[23] In May 1987, Senegal extradited Captain , a former black member of the government accused of corruption, but only after veiled threats from Nouakchott that failure to do so would result in Mauritania's allowing Senegalese dissidents a platform from which to speak out against the government of President Abdou Diouf.^[23] At the same time, Senegal and Mauritania have cooperated successfully with Mali under the Senegal River Development Office (Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Sénégal—OMVS), which was formed in 1972 as a flood control, irrigation, and agricultural development project.

• Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 February 2018.^[57]
• Mauritania is accredited to Singapore from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan.^[57]

• Both countries established diplomatic relations on January 1995.^[58]
• Both countries are full members of the African Union.

Mauritania and South Korea have made several high-ranking visits to each other's countries, including the Ambassador for the Permanent Mission of Mauritania to Geneva, Nemine Ould to South Korea in October 2008, and the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Kingdom of Morocco, Lee Tae Ho to Mauritania in February 2013.^[59]

• Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1961.^[60]
• Both countries are full members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie

• Mauritania has an embassy in Ankara.
• Turkey has an embassy in Nouakchott.
• Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
• Trade volume between the two countries was US$245 million in 2019.^[61]

• Mauritania is accredited to Ukraine from its embassy in Moscow, Russia.^[62]
• Ukraine is accredited to Mauritania from its embassy in Rabat, Morocco.^[62][63]

Embassy of Mauritania in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Government fully supports Mauritania's transition to democracy, and congratulates Mauritania on the successful series of 2006-2007 parliamentary and presidential elections. The U.S. condemned the August 2005 coup and the unconstitutional assumption of power by the Military Council for Justice and Democracy, and called for a return to a constitutional government through free and fair elections as soon as possible. The United States provided election-related assistance for voting education, political party training, and democracy building. The U.S. now aims to work with the Mauritanian Government to expand bilateral cooperation in the areas of food security, health, education, security, strengthening democratic institutions, and counterterrorism.

• Both countries established diplomatic relations on 2 July 2008.^[66]
• Both countries are full members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 March 1965.^[67]