INDIA AND OMAN A BLOOMING BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP THAT GOES BEYOND BOUNDARIES
By Huma Siddiqui *
India-Oman relations have traversed a journey of 6 decades plus , marking mutual trade and people-to-people ties spanning several millennia . Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’ s first visit to the Sultanate earlier this year has given a further boost to the already robust bilateral ties and enhanced India ’ s strong bond with the Gulf country , especially since Oman has been a steady partner for India in the region .
Sharing his views on PM Modi ’ s visit to his country , Sheikh Hamad bin Saif bin Abdul Aziz Al Rawahi , Ambassador of Oman in India , said , “ Oman is a key country situated on the rim of the Indian Ocean region and a member of the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative . The visit helped in opening the door wider for providing more investment opportunities to new businessmen and investors . In particular , Oman has a safe and secure environment , a sound ease of doing business policy , and well equipped ports which are closest to Indian ports and key to transporting Indian trade goods to the world .”
During the course of the visit , discussions between the two countries focussed on intensifying bilateral cooperation in key sectors such as trade and defence . While there , PM Modi held talks with Oman ’ s Sultan Qaboos bin Said and others , and both sides agreed to further expand their cooperation to new areas of mutual interest , including space , cyber-security , energy security , renewable energy and food security , with a view to taking the strategic partnership to a higher level .
According to a joint statement released at the end of the visit , “ the two sides agreed to enhance cooperation to strengthen maritime security in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean regions , vital for the security and prosperity of both countries . They further agreed to promote bilateral collaboration for humanitarian assistance and evacuation in natural disasters and conflict situations .”
The two countries also agreed on the need to “ isolate the sponsors and supporters of terrorism ” and urged the international community to “ take urgent action against all such entities which support terrorism and use it as an instrument of policy .” Further , “ the two sides agreed to coordinate efforts to counter extremism and radicalisation and misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred and perpetrating acts of terrorism ,” the statement added .
In his address to the audience at the 5th India-Arab Partnership Conference in Muscat in December 2016 , MJ Akbar , Minister of State for External Affairs , noted that , “ bilateral economic ties [ between India and Oman ] have witnessed some significant developments inthe last few years . Currently , there are around 3000 joint ventures between Indian and Omani
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