Gulf diplomatic crisis: India's commercial ties with the key players involved in charts

Any geo political tensions in the Gulf region can have a bearing on India’s economy, primarily because the country is dependent on the region for energy imports. The present situation, wherein many countries severing their ties with Qatar accusing it of supporting terrorism, has not yet evolved into a full blown crisis. With Qatar expressing its willingness to discuss issue with the regional rivals, there is a small hope that the issue could be resolved before spiralling out of hand. [caption id=“attachment_3523587” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] According to a Reuters report, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Yemen and Egypt cutting their relationship with Qatar has opened up the worst rift in years among some of the most powerful states in the Arab world. However, India has officially said that the developments will not be impact the country. “There is no challenge arising out of this for us. This is an internal matter of GCC (Gulf Coordination Council). Our only concern is about Indians there. We are trying to find out if any Indians are stuck there,” Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters on Monday. Here’s a look at India’s trade relations with all the key players involved in the development:

Remittances in $bn (2015) Create column charts

The country received $62.7 billion dollars remittacnes in 2016, of which around $40 billion was from the Gulf countries. Overall remittance to the country had fallen 8.9 percent in 2016 from 2015. The decline in remittances has been attributed to various factors including low oil prices and weak economic growth in GCC and Russia.

India’s trade with UAE Create column charts

India’s trade with the UAE has been on a decline. From $75.5 billion in 2012-13, the total trade has fallen to $52.8 billion in 2016-17. The UAE is India’s second biggest export market after the US.

India’s trade with Saudi Arabia Create column charts

With Saudi Arabia too the total trade has fallen drastically from $48.6 billion in 2013-14 to $25 billion in 2016-17.

India’s trade with Iran Create column charts

With Iran, India’s trade has been steady, barring 2015-16 when it fell to $9 billion. In 2016-17, it has bounced back to $12.9 billion.

India’s trade with Iraq Create column charts

The total trade with Iraq too has fallen due to a decline in imports from the country. Imports fell from $19.2 billion in 2012-13 to $11.7 billion on 2016-17.

India’s trade with Qatar Create column charts

The trade with Qatar is also falling. In 2013-14, the total trade between the nations stood at $16.7 billion. It fell to $8.4 billion in 2016-17.

India’s trade with Kuwait Create column charts

India’s total trade with Kuwait has declined too. From $18.2 billion in 2013-14, it has come down to just $5.9 billion.

India’s trade with Oman Create column charts

However, trade with Oman has largely remained steady around $4 billion. The trade had hit $5.7 billion in 2013-14, the highest in the last five years.

India’s trade with Bahrain Create column charts

With Bahrain, the total trade has been tepid at around $1 billion. In 2016-17, it fell to $765 million. (With inputs from Rajesh Pandathil)