Prime Minister being received by the Deputy Prime Minister Oman , Fahd bin Mahmood Al Said , on his arrival , in Muscat , Oman on February 11 , 2018 of IT and IT enabled services and financial services , including banking , insurance and capital markets . It has already been agreed that students from both countries will be encouraged to join each other ’ s higher educational institutions . India will collaborate with Omani institutions in the engineering , management and IT fields .
A long-standing demand from the Omani side has been to work with India in meeting Oman ’ s long-term food security requirements . India has once again reiterated its desire to do so – but both sides need to quickly agree on an implementing mechanism and road map in this project which will bind their friendship further . There is scope for developing fisheries and the agriculture sector in Oman .
India and Oman have agreed to exempt diplomatic , official , special and service passport holders from visa requirements and will work towards expansion of tourism between the two countries , which has a huge potential for expansion .
The agreements to conduct regular joint exercises by the three defence forces , training of navy , air and army officials , and cooperation in coastal defence will bring benefit to both sides . India offers a unique opportunity for Oman for joint production of defence equipment and procurement of defence material from India . There is commonality of views on cooperating in strengthening maritime security in the Gulf and Indian ocean regions . According to the Indian Embassy in Oman , the South Asia Gas Enterprise ( SAGE ), a consortium based in India , has proposed a 1,400 km long deep-sea pipeline from Oman to India with the gas being sourced from
Iran . The cost of transferring 31 million cubic metres of gas per day is estimated to be around $ 5 billion . This unique project needs support from the Ministry of Petroleum of India , since the Omani and Iranian authorities are already supportive of this venture at the governmental level .
India also needs to encourage investments in the special economic zones of Duqm , Sohar and Salalah . Minerals and mining , manufacturing , logistics , infrastructure , tourism , agriculture and fisheries , IT and IT enabled services , skills development , and innovation are all areas in which India can contribute to the prosperity of Oman . Oman has now joined the International Solar Alliance , and India will offer its support and expertise to Oman for developing renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind power . Both countries have also identified building their strategic oil reserves as a broad area for mutual cooperation . In addition to export of power equipment , Indian companies can also participate in the power sector in Oman by providing consultancy services and executing power projects .
India and Oman need to pay more attention to each other , step up exchanges , look for synergies and prosper together . Above all , they need to capitalise on their centuries old trusted partnership to reap the benefits of modernisation and globalisation .
* Anil Wadhwa was Indian Ambassador to Oman from 2007-11 . He has served as Secretary ( East ) in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi and oversaw relations with Oman between 2014-16 .
10 • INDIA-OMAN • 2018