GS Paper II

News Excerpt:

The Sultan of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, is visiting India from December 16 on a state visit.

Key Highlights of the visit:

• The Indian Prime Minister and Oman’s Sultan recently adopted a vision document to strengthen bilateral ties. Also, they pushed for sealing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement.
• The two sides announced the third tranche of the Oman-India investment fund worth USD 300 million (around Rs 2,500 crore) that would be used for channeling investment into the fastest-growing sectors of the Indian economy.
• Both countries signed agreements on cooperation in the field of information technology, combating financial crimes, culture, and the establishment of a Hindi chair of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations in Oman.

Oman’s significance for India:

• Geo-strategic:
  • Oman is the closest neighbour to India in the Arabian Gulf region. 
  • With key Omani ports bordering the coastline along the Arabian Sea as well as the Gulf of Oman leading into the Persian Gulf and towards the Gulf of Aden, Oman’s location is of utmost strategic importance to India. 
  • Along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman completes the trio of key strategic partners of India in the Gulf region.
  • Oman is a crucial pillar of India’s West Asia policy, with their multi-faceted engagement increasingly taking on a more strategic shape in recent decades. 

• Diplomatic relation:

• • The ruling family of Oman has always had a strong connection with India. 
  • Sultan Qaboos was always favourably disposed towards India and invited Indian companies and professionals to undertake projects apart from sourcing supplies from India. 
  • At the people-to-people level too, India and Oman enjoy close ties. 
    • There is a large Indian community of almost seven lakh people which has contributed to the constantly evolving vibrant relations.

• Geo-political support:

• • During the Cold War era, and even thereafter, when the Arab world was largely ambivalent towards India and was often soft and supportive of Pakistan, it was Oman which kept its doors open to India.

• Strategic partnership:

• • The India-Oman strategic partnership was signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Oman in 2008 and is based on twin pillars of mutual trust and shared interests. 

• • Oman was one of the few countries to have been invited by India to its G-20 presidency as a guest nation earlier this year.

• Defence and Security engagement:

• • Oman is the first Gulf country with which all three wings of India’s defense forces hold joint exercises. 
  • Since 2012-13, an Indian naval ship has remained on duty in the Gulf of Oman for anti-piracy operations. 
  • Oman has allowed overflights/transit by Indian military aircraft too. 
  • Recently, both countries have cooperated in ensuring maritime security in the Indian Ocean region.
  • The MoU on Duqm Port is a historic landmark in our security cooperation, providing basing facilities, Operational Turn Round, and other logistics facilities to Indian naval ships operating in the region.

• Economic engagement:

• • Bilateral trade during FY 2022-23 reached $12.388 billion. 
  • There are over 6,000 India-Oman joint ventures in Oman, with an estimated investment of over $7.5 billion.
  • India was the second largest market for Oman’s crude oil exports for the year 2022 after China. 
  • In 2022, India and Oman launched the Rupay debit card in Oman, a key footprint of India’s initiative to promote digital public infrastructure (DPI) in the world.

• Oman’s involvement in crucial multilateral forums:

• • Oman is an integral part of all important groupings in the region; the GCC, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Arab League. 
  • Its ability to manage rival ideologies and power games in the region makes it vitally important to India.

• Future co-operations:

• • Space cooperation: India and Oman are looking forward to increased engagement in strategic areas such as space cooperation.

• The possibility of an agreement on joint exploration of rare earth metals, vital to modern electronic equipment, could add strength to the partnership.
• The proposed India-Middle-East-Europe Connectivity Corridor (IMEEC) infrastructure project to link India to Europe across West Asia could also see Oman playing an important role. 
• There is a proposal from the South Asia Gas Enterprise (SAGE), a private consortium based in India, to lay a 1,400 km long deep-sea pipeline from Oman to India for the transfer of gas.

Challenges:

• Security challenges in the region have a ripple effect in India.
• Any instability in the region has a direct bearing on the safety and security of millions of Indians working there, India’s energy security, and its steadily growing trade relations.

Conclusion:

The list of convergence and shared interests is thus long and limitless. Apart from being India’s oldest strategic partner in the region and closest neighbour, Oman is an integral part of all important groupings in the region; the GCC, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Arab League. Its ability to manage rival ideologies and power games in the region makes it vitally important to India. Both countries consider themselves as ambassadors of peace and enjoy goodwill across ideologies in the world. Oman is, therefore, India’s gateway to West Asia.