Amid concerns being expressed in the petroleum rich Gulf Cooperation Council countries that the regional body of six influential Arab states has not pulled its weight regionally or internationally, the two-day GCC summit commencing here on Monday is expected to discuss political and strategic questions also, besides economic matters which have been the staple since 1981 when the regional body was established.
Indicating this, GCC secretary-general Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah told The Asian Age in a brief interaction on Sunday that strategic issues in the context of Iran were very much in the minds of the GCC states.
The matter of three disputed islands between Iran and UAE is expected to be to the fore. The secretary-general said the GCC desired a peaceful resolution through dialogue.
Asked about Iran’s nuclear programme which has raised intense concerns in the West, and seriously troubled the powerful Gulf states which have so far addressed the issue only sotto vocce, Mr Al Attiyah noted that GCC must be part of the consultations when leading Western states confabulate to decide on international procedures to be adopted in relation to Iran. The five plus one group (UN Security Council members plus Germany) is meeting in Geneva on Monday to discuss Iran. The Arab world has so far not expressed itself directly on its Iranian neighbour’s nuclear programme. The recent WikiLeaks disclosure of US embassy cables showed that important figures from GCC states candidly express their concerns regarding Iran in discussing the question with their American interlocutors.
Mr Al Attiyah said the six GCC states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain would like “an economy without borders” as between themselves. This was necessary to facilitate the movement of people, trade and investment within the region. The summit is widely expected to give a push to railway links and a common power grid within the GCC and further deliberate the question of monetary union on the EU pattern.
Speaking to the media after inaugurating a GCC exhibition hours before the meeting of the regional foreign ministers on the eve of the summit, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak al Nahyan, UAE’s minister for works said, “I am sure the summit will come out with important decisions and agreements for the benefit of the region.”