It is a political and economic alliance of six countries in the Arabian Peninsula: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The GCC was established in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 1981.
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.
Together, the GCC countries possess almost half of the world’s oil reserves.
Organizational structure:
Supreme Council:
- It is the highest authority of the organization, which meets on an annual basis and consists of GCC heads of state.
- Decisions of the Supreme Council are adopted by unanimous approval.
- Its presidency rotates periodically among the member states in alphabetical order.
Ministerial Council:
- It is composed of the foreign ministers of all the Member States or other ministers deputizing for them.
- It meets every three months to implement the decisions of the Supreme Council and to propose new policy.
Secretariat General:
- It is the administrative arm of the alliance, which monitors policy implementation and arranges meetings.
- Its headquarters is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
India and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC):
GCC is India’s largest regional-bloc trading partner.
Trade with the GCC comprised 15.8% of India’s total trade in FY2022–23.
The UAE has consistently been India’s principal trading partner within the Gulf and is India’s third-largest trading partner overall.
According to the latest figures, there are approximately 8.9 million Indian expats residing in GCC countries, which is approximately 66% of non-resident Indians.
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