India’s Relationship With The Gulf Cooperation Council: Need To Look Beyond Business

India-GCC relationship is growing stronger by the day as both realise the potential and importance of each other. Trade and commerce is the most important pillar of the India-GCC relationship. Success of high volume of trade and commerce between India and GCC revolves around a high degree of trade and economic complementarity as both caters to each other's economic demands. GCC countries, with large hydrocarbon reserves are crucial for India's energy requirements while the region has been a good market for Indian products. But the success of the bilateral economic relationship has not been translated in to a stronger political and strategic partnership. In this context, this monograph analyses India's engagement with the GCC countries and argues that as India emerges as a major global power, it is important for India to engage with the 'extended neighbourhood' more meaningfully. It emphasises the point that India should engage with the GCC countries, and build consensus on political and security and strategic issues affecting them. As the region is going through rapid political changes in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, it becomes imperative for India to engage with these countries looking beyond the economic relationship with the GCC countries. Though there have been some endeavours in recent years in this regard, there is still a lot of room need to be covered.

About the Author

Dr. Prasanta Kumar Pradhan is an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. He holds a doctorate degree from the School of International Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His areas of research interests include domestic, foreign policy and security issues in the Gulf region and the wider Arab world. He has also done extensive research on various aspects of India's relationship with the Gulf and West Asian region. He has published articles in several reputed journals and contributed articles to the edited volumes on these issues. He is also working on the political, strategic and security implications of the Arab Spring for the region and India. At IDSA, he is presently working on the 'Sectarian Faultlines in West Asia'.