What is the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)?

May 26, 2024

The United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council recently announced a new iteration of defense working groups to be based in Saudi Arabia to ‘advance US-GCC cooperation and multilateral (missile) integration against shared air and maritime threats’.

About Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC):

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:
- The 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.
- The 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.
- The 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 GCC:
- GCC is India’s largest regional-bloc trading partner.
- Trade with the GCC comprised 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 9 million Indian expats residing in GCC countries, which is approximately 66% of non-resident Indians.