Oman and India’s relations
Relations between Oman and India:
- Due to long-standing maritime trade connections, the two nations across the Arabian Sea have friendly and amicable relations as well as shared geography, history, and culture.
- A key participant in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Arab League, and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) fora, the Sultanate of Oman is India’s strategic partner in the region.
- The Late HM Sultan Qaboos was awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize 2019 in acknowledgment of his leadership in fortifying the bonds between Oman and India and his initiatives to advance peace in the Gulf.
Defense-Related:
Committee for Joint Military Cooperation (JMCC):
- The JMCC is the highest level of defense-related communication between Oman and India.
Military Manoeuvres:
- Army drill at Al Najah
- Eastern Bridge, an Air Force drill
- Exercise at Sea: Naseem Al Bahr
Trade and Business Relations:
- The Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) and Joint Business Council (JBC), among other institutional structures, supervise India-Oman economic cooperation.
- One of Oman’s main trading partners is India.
- India will be Oman’s second-biggest destination for crude oil exports in 2022, behind China.
- India ranks second in terms of imports for Oman after the United Arab Emirates and is the country’s fourth-largest market for non-oil exports to the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia in 2022.
- India has made investments in Oman in a number of industries, including textiles, cement, fertilisers, and iron and steel.
- The State Bank of India and the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) of Oman collaborated to create the India-Oman Joint Investment Fund (OIJIF), a special purpose vehicle for investments in India.
The Omani Indian Community:
- Approximately 4.8 lakh of the 6.2 lakh Indians living in Oman are employed or in other professional capacities. Indian families have been residing in Oman for around 150–200 years.
The role of Oman:
- In the Arabian Gulf, Oman is India’s nearest neighbour.
- With important Omani ports along the Arabian Sea shoreline and the Gulf of Oman, which leads into the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden,
- India places great strategic value on Oman’s position.
- Oman is the third major strategic ally of India in the Gulf, after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
- The Arab world was generally indifferent to India and frequently tolerant of Pakistan during the Cold War era and even beyond.
- Oman was the one to remain open to India.
- The twin pillars of moderation and mediation have served as the foundation of Oman’s foreign policy.
- It includes a purposeful policy of neutrality while addressing conflicts and challenges in the region.
- It has carefully balanced its tight ties to both the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations and the Western powers.
- Its pragmatic stance towards Iran, a neighbour, is demonstrated by its insistence that the Straits of Hormuz will remain open.
- Even in 2019, when the United States and Iran were in danger of going to war over the Persian Gulf issue
- One of the main factors in reducing tensions was Oman.
- It is widely known and acknowledged that Oman played a significant role in the July 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
- Oman declined to sever diplomatic ties with Qatar along with Saudi Arabia and other nations during the GCC-Qatar diplomatic standoff.
- The Israeli prime minister paid an unexpected visit to Oman long before the Abraham Accords were signed in 2020 with Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
India-Oman strategic alliance:
- Oman is a key component of India’s West Asia policy, and in recent decades, its multifaceted engagement has taken on a more strategic form.
- The strategic cooperation between Oman and India was struck in 2008 during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Oman.
- It is built upon the two pillars of common interests and trust.
- Oman was one of the few nations that India welcomed as a guest nation during its G-20 leadership.
Engagement between defence and security:
- It is the cornerstone of this strategic alliance and is managed by a 2005 memorandum of understanding (MoU).
- The first Gulf nation with whom the three branches of India’s armed forces have conducted combined drills is Oman.
- An Indian naval vessel has been deployed in the Gulf of Oman for counter-piracy operations during 2012–2013.
- Oman has also permitted Indian military planes to fly over and pass over.
- Both nations have worked together to guarantee maritime safety throughout the Indian Ocean area.
- The Indian Navy conducted “Operation Sankalp” during the Persian Gulf crisis in 2019 to guarantee the safe passage of Indian-flagged ships, most of which were based off the coast of Oman.
- The Duqm Port Memorandum of Understanding is a major milestone in our security collaboration
Commerce and trade:
- It is a crucial engagement component.
- In FY 2022–2023, bilateral trade came to $12.388 billion.
- With an estimated investment of more than $7.5 billion, Oman is home to approximately 6,000 joint enterprises between India and Oman.
- After China, India accounted for the second-largest share of Oman’s 2022 crude oil export market.
- India and Oman introduced the Rupay debit card in Oman in October 2022.
- India’s global campaign to advance digital public infrastructure (DPI).
Actions made to expand collaboration:
- India and Oman are cooperating more in vital fields like space exploration.
- During the PM’s visit, an MoU was signed about this.
- Strengthening the collaboration might be the prospect of an agreement on cooperative exploration of rare earth metals, which are essential to contemporary technological equipment.
- Oman may potentially have a significant part in the projected Middle East-Europe Connectivity Corridor (IMEEC), which would connect West Asia and India.
- A 1,400 km long deep-sea pipeline from Oman to India is being proposed by the South Asia Gas Enterprise (SAGE), a private consortium with its headquarters in India, for the purpose of transferring gas.
The Way Ahead:
- Oman is a key pillar of West Asia, where India is pursuing stronger involvement and partnership as part of its wider global view and outreach in the extended neighbourhood.
- India is directly impacted by security issues in the region, thus any instability there directly affects the safety and security of the millions of Indians who work there.
- India’s steadily expanding commercial relations and energy security.
- It is crucial to India because of its capacity to control competing ideologies and regional power struggles.
- Both nations view themselves as peace ambassadors and are well-liked by people of all beliefs worldwide.
- India’s entryway to West Asia is Oman.
