The United Kingdom‘s relationship with Qatar is going from “strength to strength”, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said after welcoming the Emir of Qatar to Downing Street for bilateral talks.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said he was “excited” to attend Friday’s meeting, which he hoped would bolster the “very strong relationship” which exists between the two nations.

The talks touched on strengthening strategic relations and bilateral cooperation in various fields of partnership.

Al Jazeera’s Nadim Baba, reporting from outside the prime minister’s office on Downing Street, said “the UK’s ambassador to Qatar made a statement before the emir travelled to London and outlined ways in which these relations are very strong”.

“He mentioned trade, which is annually worth around $8bn. He also talked about energy, saying that Qatar provided between 20 and 30 percent of the UK’s gas imports, and talked about how the UK wanted to help Qatar expand its LNG sector,” added Baba.

“He also talked about defence cooperation. Qatar has ordered 24 Typhoon fighter jets from Britain. The previous prime minister, Theresa May, signed a commitment to cooperating with Qatar, and [the ambassador] wants to see all of those areas increased in the coming years.”