Qatar crisis: India favours constructive dialogue

Qatar has vowed to ride out the isolation imposed on it by fellow Arab states and said it would not compromise its sovereignty over foreign policy to resolve the region's biggest diplomatic crisis in years.

Trump's stern warning overshadowed an earlier declaration from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson - who had also urged Saudi Arabia and its allies to ease their land and sea "blockade" of Qatar.

External affairs ministry said India is closely following the emerging situation in the region in the wake of the recent decision by Saudi Arabia and some other countries to break diplomatic relations with the State of Qatar.

"The nation of Qatar unfortunately has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level", Trump told reporters at the White House.

"For us, unity is clearly necessary for maximum effect on this front (against terrorism)", he said.

Qatar denies it backs extremist groups and says the allegations are politically motivated and meant to tarnish the country's image.

At the same time, Tillerson noted that the emir of Qatar has made progress in halting financial support and expelling terrorist elements from his country.

"The blockade is hindering United States military actions in the region and the campaign against ISIS", Tillerson said, without providing details. "Families are being forcibly separated and children pulled out of school", he said.

"We believe these are unintended consequences, especially during this holy month of Ramadan".

Arab states that have laid virtual siege on Qatar praised U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday for enthusiastically supporting their stance when he called on the Gulf state to stop "the funding of terrorism".

But Davis added that "while current operations from Al Udeid Air Base have not been interrupted or curtailed, the evolving situation is hindering our ability to plan for longer term military operations".

Despite Tillerson's assessment that the fight against ISIS had been impacted, Pentagon officials said there has been no immediate disruption. Aircraft that fly out of Qatar - including fighter jets, drones and refueling planes - can be relocated, they said.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut diplomatic ties and traffic links with Doha Monday, after accusing Doha of sponsoring terrorism. He says Qatar has a history of supporting violent groups.

Tillerson, speaking at the State Department, said the USA would help support efforts to mediate the crisis, along with Kuwait - another Gulf country that has stepped up to try to broker a resolution.

Amnesty, quoting Qatar's National Human Rights Committee, said more than 11,000 nationals of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE live in Qatar, while many Qataris are residents of the three other Gulf states.

The row has sparked one of the worst political crises in decades among some of Washington's closest Mideast allies.

Increasing the pressure on Friday, Qatar's neighbours put 12 organisations and 59 people on a terror sanctions list and described them as being associated with Qatar.

The country has called the allegations "baseless".