Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Current Context : External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar (EAM), visited Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to attend the 1st ever India–GCC Joint Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue.

• This was the first meeting between India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at the Foreign Ministers level.

ABOUT

• The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a political and economic alliance of six Middle Eastern countries located on the Arabian Peninsula.
• The member states are:
  • Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
• Established on May 25, 1981 in Riyadh.
• Objective: To promote economic, security, cultural, and social cooperation between the six states and hold a summit every year to discuss cooperation and regional affairs.
• Collectively, GCC countries hold nearly half of the world’s oil reserves.

INDIA AND GCC:

• The GCC is India’s largest regional trading partner.
• In FY2022–23, trade with GCC countries accounted for 15.8% of India’s total trade.
• The UAE is India’s leading trading partner within the GCC and the third-largest overall trading partner for India.

Approximately 8.9 million Indian expatriates live in GCC countries, making up about 66% of the Indian diaspora living abroad.