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