Explained: India, Oman ties and why its top defence official’s Delhi visit important

News: Oman’s top defence official Mohammed Nasser Al Zaabi is on an official visit to India, this signifies India – Oman relationship.

What is the purpose of the visit?

He is going to co-chair the 10th Joint Military Cooperation Committee (JMMC) with Indian Defence Secretary. JMCC is the highest forum of engagement between India and Oman in the field of defence. It evaluates and provides guidance to the overall framework of defence exchanges between the two sides.

The present JMCC is expected to comprehensively evaluate the ongoing defence exchanges and provide a roadmap for further strengthening defence ties in the upcoming years.

What are the salient features in India – Oman relationship?

Historical: Oman’s longest-reigning leader, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, was a great friend of India. He was also a student of President Shankar Dayal Sharma. On his demise, India had announced national mourning for one day in his honour. He was also conferred with Gandhi Peace Prize, in recognition of his leadership in strengthening the ties between India & Oman and his efforts to promote peace in the Gulf region.

Indian diaspora: About 6.2 lakh Indians are living in Oman, of which about 4.8 lakh are workers and professionals. There are also Indian families living in Oman for more than 150-200 years.

Defence: Oman is India’s closest defence partner in the Gulf region. It provides critical operational support to Indian naval deployments in the Arabian Sea for anti-piracy missions.

It is the only country in the Gulf region with which all three services of the Indian armed forces conduct regular bilateral exercises. Oman also actively participates in the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS). Forces of both the countries also engaged with each other in various training programmes.

Strategic: To counter Chinese maritime influence, India has secured access to the key Port of Duqm in Oman for military use, reconnaissance aircraft, and logistical support. Recently, India had deployed an attack submarine to Duqm port in the western Arabian Sea.

Economic: Port of Duqm also has a special economic zone, where Indian companies invested around $1.8 billion. The Adani group had signed an MoU with Duqm port authorities in recent years.

In the context of strategic oil reserves near Duqm, India had extended an invitation to Oman to participate in building strategic oil reserves in India.

MoU in various fields: To strengthen bilateral defence ties, both countries had signed the MoU on Military Cooperation, in 2005 and renewed it in 2016. Another MoU was signed in 2016 on cooperation in maritime security and between Coast Guards of the two countries. Both countries are also committed to supporting each other towards promoting regional peace and security, counter-terrorism, information-sharing and capacity-building, etc

Source: This post is based on the article “Explained: India, Oman ties and why its top defence official’s Delhi visit important” published in the Indian Express on 31st January 2022.