Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan reached Muscat on a two-day official visit to Oman starting Monday. He will hold a bilateral meeting with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi.
This is Muraleedharan’s second visit to the Sultanate. The high-level visit is aimed at reinforcing the shared commitment to the “ever-growing relationship” between India and Oman, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Apart from the Omani foreign minister, MoS Muraleedharan will also meet other senior dignitaries and engage in discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.
As per the ministry, he will participate in a community reception and interact with a wide Indian community, particularly those in the health, education, business, and social service sectors.
Oman hosts a strong diaspora of more than 600,000 Indians.
“There has been sustained and frequent exchange of high-level visits between both countries. PM Narendra Modi visited Oman in 2018, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar visited in 2019, and MoS himself visited Oman in December 2020,” informed the MEA.
In March this year, the Omani foreign minister visited India while Omani Commerce and Industry Minister Qais bin Mohammed al Yousef paid an official visit in May.
India and Oman share warm and friendly relations underpinned by historical and cultural linkages and strong people-to-people ties, the ministry said, adding that minister Muraleedharan’s visit will provide an opportunity to comprehensively review the state of bilateral relations between India and Oman and to chart pathways to further deepen and strengthen it.
India and Oman have maintained close cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite struggling to contain the contagious virus at home, New Delhi sent shiploads of medicines, medical equipment and vaccines to Muscat. Both countries had an air bubble arrangement for travel during the peak of the pandemic. Muscat had announced that Indian nationals would be excepted from entry visas from visiting Oman for a period up to 10 days.
India is among Oman’s top trading partners and bilateral trade for the financial year 2021-2022 at USD 7.5 billion.