India – Oman Relationship

News

  • Today in New Delhi, Prime Minister will speak with Sultan of Oman Haitham Bin Tarik.
  • Prime Minister and Indian President will give Sultan Haitham bin Tarik a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
  • It is also planned for Sultan Tarik to visit the National Gallery of Modern Art during his three-day State Visit.
  • The Sultan Haitham bin Tarik’s first state visit to India represents a critical turning point in the diplomatic ties between India and the Sultanate of Oman.
  • According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the visit will improve bilateral relations and further solidify the long-standing friendship and collaboration between Oman and India.

India – Oman Relation

  • India and Oman have 5000 years of combined maritime and cultural history.
  • As a key participant in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Arab League, and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) fora, the Sultanate of Oman is a strategic partner of India.
  • Oman and India have friendly relations and are connected by geography, history, and culture.
  • Although India and Oman have had people-to-people contact for 5,000 years, formal diplomatic relations were first established in 1955, and in 2008 the relationship was upgraded to a strategic partnership.
  • Exercises: Air Force’s “Eastern Bridge”; Army exercise is “Al Najah” and Exercise at Sea is “Naseem Al Bahr.”
  • The Late HM Sultan Qaboos was awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize 2019 in acknowledgment of his leadership in strengthening the relationship between Oman and India and his initiatives to advance peace in the Gulf.
  • Trade ties:
    • After China, India was Oman’s second-biggest location for its crude oil exports in 2022.
    • After the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Saudi Arabia, India ranks as Oman’s fourth-largest non-oil export market in 2022. It is also the country’s second-largest import source, following the United Arab Emirates.
    • India’s top exports to Oman are: In addition to the customary export goods like tea, coffee, spices, dairy products, clothing, meat, and other food items, there are also articles of iron and steel, organic chemicals, iron and steel, cereals, machinery and mechanical appliances, rice, and electrical machinery and equipment.
    • The primary products that India imports from Oman are: Liquified natural gas, petroleum oils and oils derived from bituminous minerals, urea, salt, sulfur, earth and stones, plastering supplies, gypsum, lime, and cement, urea, crude oil (obtained on the spot), aluminum, iron and steel, cement, asbestos, mica, organic chemicals, ores, slag, and ash, etc.
Port of Duqm:

●  For India’s maritime strategy in the Indian Ocean, the Port of Duqm is strategically significant.

●  It provides India with access to the Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Gulf of Oman.

●  This strategic location allows India to counter China’s growing presence in the region.