There are occasions for gifts. If he was going to see his old teacher perhaps or visiting some Moroccan friend, then of course a gift is needed.
And friends don’t care if someone brought a gift and others did not. Perhaps the wives care, in which case forgive my ignorance.
Scenerio… Old friends meet after a long time. They will NOT GOSSIP about, e.g.:
A*li: yaar, Amir brought me a gift and Tariq did not.
Qasim: yes, something fishy going on.
Talha: Perhaps he didn’t like what you said about his shirt back in 1998…
*
A more realistic discussion would revolve around someone Talha had a crush on back in 1998.