External Affairs Minister of India, S Jaishankar urged the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Troika to facilitate the return of Indian workers to Gulf nations through sustainable travel bubble arrangements. He made the request at the annual political dialogue with the GCC Troika, which was held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

EAM had further informed the GCC countries about the progress made by India in vaccine development and manufacturing of diagnostic and other equipment pertaining to the coronavirus.

This issue was raised at a virtual meeting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a leading regional organization comprising almost all Arab countries.

The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf known as the Gulf Cooperation Council is a regional intergovernmental political and economic union consisting of all Arab states of the Persian Gulf – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – except Iraq.The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.

All current member states are monarchies, including three constitutional monarchies (Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain), two absolute monarchies (Saudi Arabia and Oman), and one federal monarchy (the United Arab Emirates, which is composed of seven member states.

In the meeting, Mr Jaishankar had assured the Gulf nations of continuing the supply of food, medicines, and essential items from India. He further thanked the GCC countries for taking care of the large Indian diaspora during the COVID-19 pandemic. The EAM also mentioned that a large number of Indian workers and professionals are now eager to return to the GCC countries to resume their work. More than 8 million Indians reside and work in the countries under the GCC. It has been observed that India had lost the tag of the world’s largest receiver of foreign remittances due to the COVID19 which had caused the fall of the total remittances below US$ 67 billion in 2020.

While the Indian delegation was led by Mr. Jaishankar, the GCC was represented by Secretary General of GCC Nayef Falah M Al-Hajraf, Foreign Minister of Bahrain, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and Foreign Minister of UAE Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash. Senior representatives from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar had also participated in the meeting.

A statement by the MEA said, “They (GCC) agreed that the India-GCC partnership in political, economic and other domains would be further strengthened. The GCC welcomed India’s inclusion in the UNSC as a non-permanent member from January 2021.”

It further added, “Both sides affirmed their commitment to reform multilateral institutions to reflect the realities of the 21st century and to work together to address contemporary challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, sustainable development and terrorism.”

In a series of tweets, Mr Jaishankar said that continuing the flow of food, medicines, and essential items was assured to the Gulf region. The MEA said that Mr Jaishankar had also apprised the GCC leaders about the progress made by India in vaccine development as well as in the development and manufacturing of diagnostic and other equipment related to COVID-19.  “Both sides reaffirmed that they will continue to work together to tackle COVID-19 situation,” it said. Mr Jaishankar also apprised the GCC leaders of the improving situation in India, both on the health and the economic sides.

The author is a member of Amity centre of Happiness