Sultan’s visit marks a milestone in India-Oman relations
How important relations with Oman are can be gauged from the fact it was the first Gulf country that India signed a strategic partnership with in 2008.
By Aditi Bhaduri
Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of Oman just concluded a hugely successful visit to India fr9m 15-17 December 2023. He was accompanied by a high-level delegation of senior ministers and officials, This was the Sultan’s first visit to India and a visit by an Omani Sultan here in 26 years! He had both one-on-one and delegation-level talks with Modi after being accorded a ceremonial welcome at the presidential palace.
Three major moments stand out from the visit.
The first is the adoption of the “India-Oman Joint Vision: A partnership for future” by the Sultan and Prime Minister Modi. It is a roadmap for bilateral engagement in the future, based on Oman Vision 2040, a national development blueprint, and India’s vision of “Amrit Kaal” till 2047. This vision document, as foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra explained at a briefing “focuses building partnership between India-Oman” in a host of areas: maritime cooperation and connectivity; energy security and green energy; digital payments; health, tourism, and hospitality related partnership; disaster management; agriculture and food security; and finally, cricket.
The vision document, capturing as it does an gamut of cooperation, is significant as is encapsulates the vision that both leaders have for bilateral partnership which has grown in leaps and bounds over the years. In fact, just how important relations with Oman are can be gauged from the fact it was the first Gulf country that India signed a strategic partnership with in 2008. Not only do bilateral ties go back centuries, with hundreds of Indian families d9miciled there for more than a century with naturalized Omani citizenship, but more than seven lac Indians currently live and work in Oman today. The oldest Hindu temple in the region is to be found in Oman. As the prime minister said in his address, “Our proximity is not just geographical and indeed reflects in our thousands of years old trade and cultural links. This also reflects in the way, we always give first priority to each other…”
A natural collorary of this engagement has been an uptick in bilateral trade, which has more than doubled from $5.4 billion in 2020-21 to $12.39 billion in 2022-23, made more significant by the fact that these are post-Covid figures. A slew of agreements were signed, including one between India’s Financial Intelligence Unit and Oman’s National Center for Financial Information to enhance collaboration in exchanging intelligence related to money laundering, associated predicate offenses, and terrorism financing.
The most significant, however, was that Oman Investment Authority expanded its collaboration with the State Bank of India by launching the third Omani-Indian Joint Fund amounting to $300 million. This fund is expected to direct investments into rapidly growing sectors in India, including technology, health, and pharmacy. It also testifies to the success of the earlier funds amounting to $100 million and $230 million respectively. The possibility of conducting trade in Indian rupees is also in an “exploratory stage” and will be immensely beneficial to India if it fructifies.
The third major moment was the commitment by both sides to accelerate the process for clinching a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which when implemented would, according to the report India-OMAN CEPA: Gateway to Middle Eastern Markets and Beyond – prepared by think-tank Global trade Reproach Initiative (GTRI), that over 83.5 per cent of Indian goods worth $3.7 billion such as gasoline, iron and steel, electronics, and machinery will get a significant boost in Oman, where they currently face a five per cent import duty. The CEPA would go a long way in not just strengthening the lose economic cooperation that nothing countries currently share but in greatly consolidating the bilateral partnership.
After all, Oman is important for India in more ways than one.
In a region rife with every kind of strife, Oman has been a beacon of light, pluralism, and peace. Its quiet low-profile individuality has for decades distinguished it from the others in the region. The country’s geographical location makes it a natural bridge between the Arab world and Iran. Oman is isolated from much of the Arabian peninsula by a formidable mountain range, while Iran is just across the narrow Strait of Hormuz. Given the current crisis in the region, this is important. Oman thus becomes a kind bridge between the Shia and the Sunni world. Perhaps that is why Oman has distinguished itself by its independent foreign policy and role as an intermediary. While Oman’s role in facilitating US-Iran talks that led to the nuclear deal stands out the most, it has numerous other feats to its credit – thanks to the sagacious decisions of its late visionary Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said.
The late Sultan Qaboos can be credited with conceptualizing a gulf security alliance that later found expression in the GCC. It was under him that bilateral relations with India were elevated to strategic ones. His succesor Sultan Haitham bin Tarik is continuing the tradition, being the architect of Oman Vision 2040. The Sultan’s visit comes at a critical time when the Gaza war continues between Israel and Hamas and Iran backed Yemenite Houthis are targeting shipping through the Red Sea. Oman is part of India’s extended neighborhood and its closest defence partner in the Gulf region. Tri-service military exercises are conducted by both countries regularly. Omani military personnel are trained in India, and since 2018 Oman has given India access to its Port Duqm for military and logistical use. This is significant not only given the current escalation in the region but also with China’s forays in the Indian Ocean.
In a press statement, Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al Busaidi said that the Sultan’s India visit represents joint commitment to strengthen cooperation that stems from the long-standing foundations of friendship, cultural and economic exchange and continuous interaction between the peoples of the two friendly peoples.
The minister called the visit “a major milestone that builds on historical relations and paves the way for a new, positive stage in developing bilateral ties”. For India, this can only be good tidings.
