the region. India, too, maintains good relations with most of the countries in the region and is supportive of the Omani position.
Having established diplomatic relations since 1955, relations between New Delhi and Muscat took a new turn when Indian President Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma visited Oman in 1996. Omani head of state Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said also visited India in 1997. The very next year, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Oman and, later, in 2008 Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Muscat. These visits of leaders from both sides went a long way towards strengthening the close relationship enjoyed by the two countries.
Since 2014, Omani foreign minister Yusuf bin Alawi has visited India thrice. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who came to power in 2014, has frequently visited the region to boost bilateral relations, attract investments, and increase trade co-operation between India and the other West Asian countries, including Oman.
Most recently, PM Modi visited Oman in February 2018 and signed eight agreements, including pacts on bilateral cooperation in the field of defence, health and tourism. During the meeting between the leaders of the two countries in the course of the visit, both countries expressed their desire to intensify bilateral ties in the areas of energy, food, security, mining, trade investment and other important sectors.
During his visit to Oman, PM Modi also addressed a gathering of members of the Indian diaspora residing in Oman at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat. He also visited the Shiva Temple, which is 125 years old and was made by the Gujarati Indian community, as well as the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, the biggest mosque in Oman. There is a significant Indian diaspora in the Gulf region, a larger number of whom live and work in Oman, helping the Indian economy by sending around $ 30 billion in remittances annually. These expatriates also help to facilitate a close bond between India and Oman through their warm interactions with the Omani people.
In the coming years, relations between India and Oman are expected to reach a high point with greater economic flow and cultural exchange in both directions.
Economic transactions between the two countries are improving by the day. Oman exports most of its crude oil to Asia. India emerged as a key importer of Oman’ s oil after China in 2017, importing about 7.6 per cent of Oman’ s total oil exports. Further, in April 2018, the Indian Oil Corporation( OIC) acquired Royal Dutch Shell’ s 17 percent stake in the Makhaizna oil fields in Oman for $ 329 million. This deal is significant because the Makhaizna oil fields contribute about 13 percent of the total Omani crude oil production. However, Oman is looking to reduce its dependency on oil by 50 percent. In this regard, Oman has come up with a 9th Development Plan( 2016-2020) wherein the country is actively exploring alternatives which can prove beneficial for Indian companies and stakeholders in the future.
Indian and Omani companies have been working on various joint ventures. An India- Oman joint venture in the fertiliser sector was setup between IFFCO and KRIBHCO. Further, an Oman-India Joint Investment Fund( OIJIF) has been set up by the State Bank of India and Oman’ s State General Reserve Fund to finance and facilitate bilateral investments. OIJIF, after raising its first tranche of $ 100 million and fully investing in India, has started investing investing its snd tranche of $ 220 million. and Oman have also set up institutional mechanisms like the Joint Commission Meeting( JCM) and the Joint Business Council( JBC) to facilitate and direct bilateral economic engagement. The 8th session of JCM and the 9th session of JBC was held hecently in Muscat on 16-17 July 2018. According to some reports, there are over 3,000 Indo-Omani Joint Ventures in Oman valued at over $ 7.5 billion. Interestingly, Indian investments in Oman are worth around $ 4.5 billion. The total trade between the two countries reached US $ 6.7 billion in 2017- 18 registering a 67.5 % rise increase from $ 4 billion in 2016-17. It may be recalled that India-Oman bilateral trade fell in in 2014-15 and 2015-16 which could be linked to drop in oil prices and fall in Oman’ s global trade.
In recent years, defence cooperation has emerged as a core focal point of the strategic partnership between New Delhi and Muscat. This partnership has strengthened owing to the regular visits of defence ministers from both sides. India’ s Defence Minister visited Oman in
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