Oman’s head of state, Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, is on his first visit to; the first visit by an Omani ruler to India in 26 years.

• The two sides adopted a vision document,  “India-Oman Joint Vision: A partnership for future” to shape ties in the coming which includes concrete action points for 10 sectors including maritime cooperation and connectivity, energy security and green energy, cooperation in space, digital payments and fintech, partnership in health, tourism and hospitality, disaster management, agriculture and food security, and using cricket to bolster people-to-people ties.
• Both sides give a push to negotiations to finalise a bilateral free trade agreement
• The two sides announced the third tranche of $300 million (about ₹2,500 crore) for the Oman-India Joint Investment Fund, a 50-50 joint venture between the State Bank of India and the Oman Investment Authority created to channel funds into the fastest growing sectors of the Indian economy.
• Also inked agreements on cooperation in combating financial crimes, cooperation in information technology, cooperation in culture, and establishing a Hindi chair of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in Oman. The agreement on tackling financial crimes envisages exchange of information between India’s financial intelligence unit and Oman’s National Center for Financial Information to prevent money laundering and terror financing.

LEARNING FROM HOME/ WITHOUT CLASSES/ BASICS

India’s ties with Oman date back to almost 5,000 years ago. Modern diplomatic ties were established in 1955 and the relationship was upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2008. India is among Oman’s top trading partners.

            For Oman, India was the third largest (after UAE and China) source for its imports and the third largest market (after the UAE and Saudi Arabia) for its non-oil exports in 2018. During 2019-20, bilateral trade was valued at USD 5.93 billion. There are over 4,100 Indian enterprises and establishments in Oman with an estimated investment of USD 7.5 billion. Oman is also an important source of remittance as nearly 500,000 Indians are employed in various sectors of the Omani economy. Demographic, economic and defence cooperation between the two countries aids India’s approach towards West Asia significantly.

Oman is India’s closest ally in the Arabian Gulf region. With key Omani ports abutting the coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman leading into the Persian Gulf and towards the Gulf of Aden, Oman’s location is of utmost strategic importance to India.

The Sultanate of Oman is a strategic partner of India in the Gulf and an important interlocutor at the Gulf Cooperation Council (AGCC), Arab League and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) fora. Oman also accords a high priority to its ties with India. The two countries across the Arabian Sea are linked by geography, history and culture and enjoy warm and cordial relations, which are attributed to historical maritime trade linkages, intimacy of the royal family with India and the seminal role played by the Indian expatriate community in building of Oman, which is acknowledged by Omani Government.