Oman foreign minister to visit India next week

Oman's foreign minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi will visit India next week. He is expected to be in Delhi from 23rd to 24th.

During his Delhi visit, Oman's FM will hold talks with external affairs minister Dr Jaishankar. Both ministers had met last in December in UAE on the sidelines of the Indian Ocean Conference.

The visit comes even as February saw a slew of high-level visits of Omani defence leadership to India. Oman's Secretary General of Defence Dr Mohammad bin Nasser bin Ali Al-Zabbi, Commander of Royal Navy of Oman ( CRNO) Rear Admiral Saif Al Rahbi had visited India last month.

February also witnesses a bilateral Air Force exercise in Jodhpur between India and the Oman Air force. The annual bilateral air exercise this year will see the participation of over 150 personnel from Oman.

Oman is India’s closest defence partner in the Gulf region and an important anchor for India’s defence and strategic interests. Defence, Shipping and people-to-people connect forms one of the key pillars of the relationship. India and Oman recently signed a White Shipping Exchange Agreement.

Cooperation amid covid has been a key area of convergence. Amid the pandemic, India released supply of 1 million HCQ tablets in April 2020 and later gifted 100,000 doses of  Made in India COVID-19 vaccines to Oman in January 2021.

New Delhi also facilitated the return of Indian medical professionals to Oman and emerged as a reliable supplier of food and other commodities to Oman during the COVID-19 period.