Haitham bin Tarik, the Sultan and Prime Minister of the Sultanate of Oman, will arrive in India today to begin his three-day state visit. He will come to India for a state visit with a high-level delegation of senior ministers and officials, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in an official release earlier.
The Oman Sultan was invited by President Droupadi Murmu and this is his first visit to India, marking a significant milestone in the diplomatic relations between the two countries, according to the MEA. He will be received by President Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a ceremonial welcome.
Bilateral discussions with PM Modi
Haitham bin Tarik will also hold bilateral discussions with PM Modi and the latter will host a luncheon in the Sultan's honour. The visit provides an opportunity to explore avenues for future collaboration between India and Oman for regional stability, progress and prosperity.
The Sultan will also be called on by the External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar. He will also visit the National Gallery of Modern Art here and hold a meeting with PM Modi at Hyderabad House on day two of his visit. The bilateral trade and investment relationship between the two nations has flourished over the years
The diplomatic relations between India and Oman were established back in 1955 and were upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2008. Both countries share historical, cultural, and economic ties going back thousands of years.
Previous PMs visiting Oman
Notably, India's prime ministers have regularly visited Oman, like Rajiv Gandhi in 1985, PV Narasimha Rao in 1993, Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998 and Dr Manmohan Singh in 2008. PM Modi also visited Oman in 2018, which marked a significant chapter in bilateral relations between the two countries.
Oman is also home to a large and vibrant Indian expatriate community, playing a crucial role in Oman's economic development and cultural diversity. The Indian diaspora in Oman has grown substantially, surpassing 700,000 individuals in the post-pandemic era.
Oman is India's closest defence partner in the Gulf region as well, and defence cooperation has emerged as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between India and Oman, according to MEA. It is the only country in the Middle East with which all three services of the Indian Armed Forces conduct regular bilateral exercises and service-level staff talks.
(with inputs from ANI)
