India-GCC Relation: Geo-Economics and Trade Intensity Analysis

Abstract

The paper attempts to analyze India's relation with the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) based on two broad parameters including geo-economic pursuits and the Trade Intensity Index (TII) analysis. The paper makes a geo-economic analysis of India-GCC relation with focus on broader areas of mutually compulsive cooperation. It also incorporates major commodities (in terms of value) of India's export to, and import from, the GCC countries over a period of time. Moreover, the paper also uses the Trade Intensity Index (TII) analysis to ascertain both the trade intensity of India with the GCC countries as well as that of the individual GCC countries with India. The study reveals that both India and GCC have huge potential for cooperation and thus need to strengthen their trade diplomacy to create conducive environment for trade facilitation.