EAM Jaishankar highlights growing India-GCC partnership at first ministerial meet

At the first India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meet in Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday (Sep 9), India's External Affairs Minister Dr EAM Jaishankar emphasised on the growing partnership between the two sides.

Pointing to "3Ps – People, Prosperity and Progress" of ties, Jaishankar said: "People-to-people ties are the bedrock of our relationship. Close to nine million Indians work and live amongst you, acting as a living bridge between us. Their contributions to your economic progress are widely recognised."

He thanked the GCC countries, which comprise of six Arab state viz., Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Omanfor taking care of the large Indian diaspora in their countries.

India’s economic linkages with the GCC have increased steadily, especially due to growth in oil imports. Pointing that GCC is a "cornerstone of global energy supply", EAM called for "deepening" collaboration as that will help in "stabilising markets, driving innovation and enhancing energy security." India, which is the world's fifth largest economy is a major importer of energy.

The meeting adopted a Joint Action Plan 2024-2028 for undertaking various joint activities in diverse areas including health, trade, security, agriculture and food security, transportation, energy, culture, amongst others.

Watch |Israel-Hamas War: Indian PM Modi talks to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu

During the meet, the situation in Gaza also came up. Terming the current situation in Gaza as a "concern", the top Indian diplomat said that "we are deeply pained by the continuing death of innocent civilians. Any response must take into account the principles of humanitarian law". He also extended India's support for a ceasefire.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the Indian external affairs minister also met the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, the Foreign minister of Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, the Foreign minister of Oman Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood, the Foreign Minister of Kuwait, Abdullah Ali Al Yahya, Foreign Minister of Bahrain Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.

What makes Monday's meet in Riyadh significant is, so far such meetings used to happen in the form of troika -"EAM and the GCC" troika -- that is GCC-SG, foreign minister of the country holding the current GCC presidency, and foreign minister of the country that will hold next GCC presidency, and any other foreign minister(s)/senior officials from the GCC countries.