External Affairs Minister S. Jaishahankar’s Saudi Arabia visit happening alongside Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince India visit, holds immense diplomatic significance.

Significance Of The Two Visits

Both visits signify India’s evolving ties with the Gulf Arab states.

Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed arrived in New Delhi on Sunday when Jaishankar landed in Riyadh for the first India-GCC summit.

External Affairs Minster Visits Saudi National Museum

Jaishankar put out a post on X after visiting the Saudi National Museum and King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives in Riyadh.

Visit Of The Crown Prince

The Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled’s visit signals Delhi’s outreach to the next generation of leadership of the oil rich emirate. which is one of seven sheikhdoms that make up the (UAE).

Although there is nothing to suggest the Crown Prince will be taking over the reins of Abu Dhabi any time soon, given that his father the Sultan is in robust health.

Diplomatic sources say India is investing in the future.

Who Is Sheikh Khaled?

Sheikh Khaled is a member of Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Council for Financial & Economic Affairs.

He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Oil Company and on the board of the Investment Authority.

These are the key agencies that handle the sheikhdom’s vast oil wealth and decide on investments.

A Major Oil Supplier

Incidentally, Abu Dhabi has traditionally been among the major suppliers of oil to India.

Expected Outcomes

Two key decisions are likely to significantly boost bilateral commercial exchanges:

One is the India-UAE FTA of Feb 2022, that will phase out all tariffs between the two countries by 2032.

The other is the decision to use the Indian rupee and the UAE Dirham in mutual trade.

This will remove some of the constraints and apprehensions from the current dollar dominated trade.

Gulf Cooperation Council

The GCC, a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union, is one of the largest trading blocs of India.

The Council comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

What Will The Meeting Achieve?

All eyes are on the outcome of the first India–Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, on Monday.

A seasoned career diplomat, Jaishankar is likely to make the most of his participation at the India-GCC meeting.

Foreign policy experts say that the summit scores high on diplomatic symbolism and India’s outreach with the visit of Jaishhankar.

Policy circles were suggesting collective diplomacy with GCC countries, for a while.

GCC Countries And Volume Of Trade

Md. Muddassir Quamar, Associate Professor at Centre for West Asian Studies in JNU says, “After the European Union and ASEAN, the GCC countries contribute a huge volume of trade. It makes more logistical sense for India to discuss business collectively.’’

While the energy trade is the bedrock of the India-GCC relationship, FDI and portfolio investments from these countries look promising.

“The GCC countries are looking at India as a trading partner and they want to tap full potential in areas such as renewable energy,’’ he said.

Food Security

He pointed out, “So far, the trading collectively with GCC has also been limited to hydrocarbons. The GCC countries are looking collectively at India for food security, for investments and partnership in clean and renewable energy.’’

Food security has become a very important issue now because of the Russia-Ukraine war which has gone on for more than two years. These two countries were the biggest suppliers of wheat and the supply has got disrupted.

“For India, this is a good opportunity to enhance exports of food products,’’ Prof Quamar noted.

India-GCC FTA

The summit will enable exploration of the idea of an India-GCC FTA.

“The summit shows how India is looking at the world- beyond the neighbourhood,’’ Prof Quamar said.

Experts say that substantial progress is expected on FTA with GCC countries, during the summit.

India -UAE and India-Saudi Arabia have been looking for joint manufacturing projects of defence equipment.

Partnerships In Defence Equipment Manufacturing

“India is looking for partnerships in defence equipment manufacturing with GCC countries,’’ Prof Quamar said.

This could expand the markets for Indian manufacturers and enable technology exchanges.