UPSC Essentials: One word a day- Gulf Cooperation Council

Relevance for CSE: Factual for prelims, India’s perspective for mains GS II. Don’t go into structure and politics of the organisation. Striking facts should be memorised to support the arguments in answer.

What is Gulf Cooperation Council?

— The GCC was formed in 1981 by an agreement among Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), that was concluded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

— It is an economic and political union comprising of all the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf except Iraq.

— Although its current official name is Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, it is still popularly and unofficially known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, which is its former official name.

— The grouping was formed in view of the similar political establishments in the countries based on Islamic principles, their geographical proximity, joint destiny and common objectives.

Which countries are the GCC Members?

The six members of the GCC are Saudi Arabia (absolute monarchy), Qatar (constitutional monarchy), Oman (absolute monarchy), UAE (federal monarchy), Bahrain, and Kuwait (constitutional monarchies).

Which are the possible future members of GCC?

The possible future members of GCC may be Yemen, Jordan, and Morocco.

What is the total GDP of the group?

The GCC members are some of the fastest-growing economies of the world. It has a total GDP (nominal) of $1.638 trillion.

What are the key objectives of GCC?

The chief objectives of the GCC are to have integration, coordination, and interconnection between the member countries in all fields. It comprises of strengthening people-to-people ties, and formulating similar regulations in finance, economy, customs, trade, tourism, administration, and legislation. Fostering scientific and technical cooperation in the areas of agriculture, mining, industry, animal resources, and water. Having a unified military etc.

What is one of the ambitious projects of GCC?

The GCC aims of having a common market and economic nationality. There are also plans to have a single currency. Such a currency may be known as Khaleeji.

Why are the Gulf countries important for India?

— The two most important reasons for the importance of the relationship between India and the gulf are oil and gas, and trade. Two additional reasons are the huge number of Indians who work in the Gulf countries, and the remittance they send back home. (Important lines for mains)

— The share of Persian Gulf countries in India’s crude imports has remained at around 60 per cent over the last 15 years.

— In 2021-2022, the largest exporter of oil to India was Iraq, whose share has gone up from 9 per cent in 2009-2010 to 22 per cent. Saudi Arabia has accounted for 17-18 per cent of India’s oil imports for over a decade. Kuwait and UAE remain major oil exporters to India. Iran used to be the second largest oil exporter to India in 2009-2010, its share went down to less than 1 per cent in 2020-21, due to US sanctions.

— In 2021-2022, the largest exporter of oil to India was Iraq, whose share has gone up from 9 per cent in 2009-2010 to 22 per cent.

— Counting only the 13.4 million non-resident Indians (NRIs), the Gulf has the largest number of Indian abroad. The UAE (3.42 million), Saudi Arabia (2.6 million) and Kuwait (1.03 million) together account for over half of all NRIs.

— In terms of remittances from abroad, India was the largest recipient in 2020 at $83.15 billion, according to World Bank data. This was nearly twice the remittances to the next highest recipient, Mexico, at $42.9 billion.

— The largest contributor is the huge Indian diaspora in the Gulf. In a bulletin in November 2018, its last on this subject, the Reserve Bank of India said the GCC countries accounted for more than 50 per cent of the total $69 billion in remittances received by India in 2016-17.

Do not feel scared of these facts. Memorise as much as it is helpful for your mains answers.

(source: gcc-sg.org)

Point to ponder: What has been India’s outreach to the gulf countries?