The Sultanate of Oman is a strategic partner of India

Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane on Monday held a telephonic conversation with Major General Matar Bin Salim Bin Rashid Al Balushi, Commander of the Royal Army of Oman and discussed issues of bilateral defence cooperation.

“General MM Naravane #COAS had telephonic interaction with Major General Matar Bin Salim Bin Rashid Al Balushi, Commander, Royal Army of Oman and discussed issues of bilateral defence cooperation #IndiaOmanFriendship#IndianArmy,” A tweet of the Additional Directorate General of Public Information, IHQ of MoD (Army) said.

The Sultanate of Oman is a strategic partner of India and an important interlocutor at Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Arab League and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) fora.

Earlier, India and Oman renewed the Memorandum of Understanding on military cooperation along with its annexure as well as on maritime issues on May 20.

The signing ceremony of MoU on military cooperation was held at the Ministry of Defense, Muscat.

There are also MoUs for cooperation between Oman’s National Defence College (NDC) and Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) of India.

Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi, then Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs (MRDA) had also visited India in February 2020 to attend DEFEXPO 2020.