Created on May 25, 1981, the 630-million-acre (2,500,000 km2) Council comprises the Persian Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The unified economic agreement between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council was signed on November 11, 1981 in Riyadh. These countries are often referred to as The GCC States.
Not all of the countries neighboring the Persian Gulf are members of the council. Iran and Iraq are currently excluded although both nations have a coastline on the Persian Gulf. The associate membership of Iraq in certain GCC-related institutions was discontinued after the invasion of Kuwait. The GCC States have announced that they support the Document of The International Compact with Iraq that was adopted at Sharm El-Sheikh on 4-5 May 2007. It calls for regional economic integration with the neighboring states but there is no prospect of Iraqi accession to the GCC
Yemen is (currently) in negotiations for GCC membership, and hopes to join by 2016.
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- formulating similar regulations in various fields such as economy, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation, and administration;
- fostering scientific and technical progress in industry, mining, agriculture, water and animal resources;
- establishing scientific research centers;
- setting up joint ventures;
- unified military presence The Peninsula Shield
- encouraging cooperation of the private sector;
- strengthening ties between their peoples; and
- establishing a common currency by 2010
However, Oman had announced in December 2006 it will not be able to meet the target date and the UAE have announced their withdrawal from the monetary union project in May 2009. This happened immediately after it was announced that the central bank for the monetary union would be located in Riyadh and not in the UAE. The name Khaleeji has been proposed as a name for this currency.
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Indian presence in the Gulf region is civilizational and has developed into a vibrant relationship over the years. With the emergence of India as a large economic power and with the Gulf region simultaneously witnessing spectacular economic growth, economic trends are reinforcing mutual interdependence. While India's economic presence in the region has transformed from barter exchanges between merchants and Indian human capital, India's political presence has remained more or less subdued. However, in the changing post-Cold War geo-political environment and converging security landscape, India has become strategically important for the Gulf countries as a major geo-political player. | During his November 2008 visit to Oman and Qatar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed two memoranda of understanding with Oman and three with Qatar. The MOUs with Qatar were on defence and security, investment, energy and manpower development.
Qatar is the largest LNG supplier to India, and during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s November 2008 visit, India expressed its wish to source an extra 2.5 million tonnes of LNG from this Gulf state.
India exports foodstuff, textile, manmade yarn/fabrics, meat and meat preparations, species, tea, coffee, machines and instruments, electronic items, and imports crude oil, fruits and nuts, non-metallic mineral manufactures, other commodities, metal-ferrous ores and metal scrap, artificial resin, plastic materials, and so on to GCC countries |
