India, Oman unveil futuristic vision; Modi spotlights historic bond

Spread the love

Arabian Sea is crucial for the proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) which was unveiled on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi. Oman was invited by India as a guest country to the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

Spread the love

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, December 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his opening remarks at the bilateral meeting with the visiting Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tarik at Hyderabad House set the tone for deepening strategic ties. The visit of the Sultan of Oman has come at a time when the Middle East is caught in a turmoil in the backdrop of the October 7 attacks by the Hamas on Israel and the subsequent bombings of Gaza by Tel Aviv.

“India’s proximity with Oman is not limited to geography, but is also reflected in trade, culture and our common priorities spanning thousands of years. We are building together a bright future on the foundation of this glorious history,” said Modi in his remarks. Modi particularly noted that the visit by the Sultan of Oman was taking place after a gap of 26 years. Modi’s visit to Oman in 2018 had given a fresh momentum in the bilateral relations.

India and Oman inked several pacts in the fields of comabting terror finacing, IT and electronics, migration, culture, and others. Oman has also asserted that the country will partner with India in the carbon emission mitigation efforts.

Modi also particularly mentioned that while India is at one end of the Arabian Sea, while Oman is placed at the other end of the mighty ocean. Incidentally, Arabian Sea is crucial for the proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) which was unveiled on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi. Oman was invited by India as a guest country to the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

The sea-rail-road economic corridor is jointly being supported by India and the US as an apparent counter to the Belt and Road Initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Modi in fact had proposed linking up the East Asian countries with the West Asia during his speec at the APEC Summit ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Oman, thus, is key to the success of the proposed economic corridor.

The Ministry of External Affairs said ahead of the bilateral meeting that the “agenda includes taking stock of bilateral ties and charting pathways for the future collaboration between the two countries”. Later, the MEA said: “The leaders reviewed bilateral relationship covering the areas of political, security, defence, trade, economic, cultural and people to people ties. They also exchanged perspectives on regional and international issues.” Modi had also remarked that India and Oman have held two rounds of talks on the comprehensive economic partnership — a free trade agreement on the lines of India-UAE FTA.

Sultan Haitham, who is on a three-day visit to New Delhi, is accompanied by seven cabinet ministers of Oman. The India-Oman Joint Vision adopted by the two sides lays focus on building partnerships in the maritime sector, connectivity, energy security, green energy (green hydrogen), space, digital payments, health tourism, disaster management, agriculture, and food security.

The MEA had said ahead of the state visit of the Sultan that “India and Oman share a longstanding history of friendship and cooperation, built on the foundation of mutual trust and respect, and strong people-to-people ties going back centuries. India and the Sultanate of Oman are strategic partners and the bilateral trade and investment relationship between the two nations has flourished over the years. The visit will be an opportunity to explore avenues for future collaboration between India and Oman for regional stability, progress and prosperity.”

Thirteen per cent of the population of Oman consists of Indian workers. Every third emigrant worker in Oman is from India. The Indian workers particularly find lucrative working inb Oman on the lines of the United Arab Emirates and Beharin. With Oman being a member of Gulf Cooperation Council, the sultanate is of additional stratehic interest for India.

The MEA in a statement said that “The Sultanate of Oman is a strategic partner of India and an important interlocutor at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Arab League, and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) fora. India and Oman are linked by geography, history, and culture and enjoy warm and cordial relations. While people-to people contact between India and Oman can be traced back 5000 years, diplomatic relations were established in 1955, and the relationship was upgraded to a Strategic Partnership in 2008.” The MEA also informed that the “bilateral trade during FY 2021-2022 reached $9.988 billion and for the year 2022-2023 reached $12.388 billion. Investment flows, both ways, have been robust, as reflected in numerous joint ventures, established both in India and Oman. There are over 6000 India-Oman joint ventures in Oman with estimated investment of over $7.5 billion.”

Subscribe: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCtqO0zMntVPOWPR_Jb3SUUw

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theraisinahills

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083062965583

website: https://theraisinahills.com/

Newsletter: https://raisinahills.substack.com/publish/home

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theraisinahills/

Share on Facebook

Save

About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

See author's posts