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Question 40 of 45 · International Economic Organisations
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Defence

The Peninsula Shield Force is the military arm of the:

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Answer: Option C — Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Detailed Solution

The Peninsula Shield Force (PSF) is the joint military force of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

About the Peninsula Shield Force:

  • It was established in 1984 by the GCC member states, during the Iran-Iraq War, to deter and respond to military aggression against any member.
  • Its headquarters is at Hafar Al-Batin, in north-eastern Saudi Arabia, near the borders of Kuwait and Iraq (King Khalid Military City).
  • It is made up of troops from all six GCC countries, with Saudi Arabia contributing the largest share.
  • It was deployed in Kuwait during the 2003 Iraq War, and, most notably, in Bahrain in March 2011, when Saudi and Emirati troops were sent to help the Bahraini government during the "Arab Spring" protests.
  • In 2013, the GCC agreed to set up a "Unified Military Command".

About the Gulf Cooperation Council:

  • It was established on 25 May 1981 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
  • Its full name is the "Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf".
  • Its headquarters (Secretariat) is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It has six members: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. All are monarchies.

Its aims include coordination in economics, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation and administration, and collective security.

It established a customs union (2003) and a common market (2008).

In 2017, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain (with Egypt) imposed a blockade on Qatar, which ended with the "Al-Ula Declaration" in January 2021.

In 2023, the GCC agreed to a "unified tourist visa" for the six countries.

India and the GCC:

  • The GCC is one of India's largest trading partners as a bloc, and a major supplier of oil and gas.
  • About 90 lakh Indians live and work in the GCC countries, and they send a large share of India's remittances.
  • India and the GCC have been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement.

Other regional organisations:

  • Arab League: Cairo (1945); 22 members.
  • Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC): Jeddah (1969); 57 members.
  • African Union: Addis Ababa (2002); its predecessor was the Organisation of African Unity (1963).

Why not the other options?

  • ✗The Arab League is a broader organisation of 22 Arab states, based in Cairo.
  • ✗The African Union is based in Addis Ababa.
  • ✗Good to know
  • ✗The OIC is based in Jeddah and has 57 members.

Quick tip

Remember: Peninsula Shield Force = military arm of the GCC (1984; HQ Hafar Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia; deployed in Bahrain 2011); GCC = 1981, Riyadh, six members (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman).

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International Economic Organisations — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of International Economic Organisations, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers international economic and financial organisations: the IMF, the World Bank group, the WTO, the Asian Development Bank, the New Development Bank, the AIIB, OPEC, the OECD and groupings such as the G20, along with their headquarters, founding and functions. Questions usually ask where an organisation is headquartered, when it was set up, and what it does. For example, the IMF and World Bank were created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, the WTO replaced GATT in 1995, and the New Development Bank, set up by the BRICS countries, is headquartered in Shanghai. Practise the international economic organisations questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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