Event Report
The Centre For India West Asia Dialogue (CIWAD) hosted an online discussion on the topic ‘India and Oman relations in the changing West Asia Dynamics’ with Professor Aftab Kamal Pasha, Director of CIWAD, and Ambassador Anil Wadhwa, a retired IFS officer.
Ambassador Anil Wadhwa, Guest Speaker
Ambassador Anil Wadha discussed the relations between India and Oman after 1955. He highlighted that Oman’s geographical position is important for India from the perspective of India’s West Asia approach and in the Indian Ocean region. The renewed attention towards Oman emerged in 2014 after India’s policy of Think West began, followed by high-profile visits of PM Modi in 2018 and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq to India in 2023. Nearly 527,000 Indians live in Oman, the second-largest expatriate community in the country after Bangladesh.
Amb Wadha talked about the strategic partnership between both nations that began after PM Manmohan Singh visited Oman in 2008, followed by the Higher Committee on Economic Cooperation in 2010. In the following years, bilateral cooperation deepened in infrastructure, chemical and fertilizers, oil and gas, power, and mining sectors. After 2018, both countries signed eight agreements, including the Space Cooperation Agreement and Memorial Space Cooperation. He mentioned that Sultan Haitham’s visit to India was significant for Oman’s vision for 2040 and India’s developmental objectives. Oman was a special invitee to the G20 along with UAE and Egypt. Oman and India have a strategic dialogue to strengthen the increased cooperation in newer domains. Other Domains of new cooperation include Oceanography, AI, and other areas.
Both have military and defense cooperation. A military protocol agreement was signed in 1972, and a three-year deputation of Indian Navy personnel to the Omani Navy happened in 1973. In 1989, the office of the Defence Advisor in Muscat was opened. In 2002, a defense administrative office was opened in India, and in 2005, an MoU on defense was signed. Oman has increasingly cooperated with India in piracy issues on its coast. Both countries have a very high level of India—Oman joint military coordination.
Recently, an MoU on the purchase of defense materials and equipment was signed, which could be a framework for further cooperation in the defense sector. Omani defense budget was reduced to about $7.8 billion in 2023 from $9.2 billion in 2019. Also, the budget for equipment acquisition was decreased to $1.3 billion in 2023 from $2.2 billion in 2019. Oman focuses on its economic recovery, diplomacy, and selective equipment purchases rather than investing money in manufacturing. In the past, India has provided land vehicles, simulators, tactical communication systems, tugboats, and ammunition. Oman, in return, gifted Jaguar spares for India’s Jaguar aircraft. India helped Oman in building a fence across the porous border with Yemen to create a buffer zone and reduce illegal activities. Joint operations, visits by generals, and regular military training in India have become a regular exchange.
Oman’s location on the Strait of Hormuz, connecting the Persian and Arabian Gulf, makes it essential for global trade and maritime security. Its proximity to the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa makes it vital for India’s interest in the region. Antipiracy operations by India since 2008 in the Gulf of Aden, primarily through Duqmport, have been significant. Duqmwill play a strategic role in protecting India’s security interests and maritime roadmap in the region. India has also invested about $1.8 billion in the Special Economic Zone in Duqm. Salalah port in Southern Oman is also important for India’s maritime security because of its proximity to the Gulf of Aden, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Red Sea.
India needs to engage with Oman for regional security by joining port developments in Oman, from Salala to Duqm, to realize India’s maritime security, a task given to India-Oman Joint Maritime Committee. Oman’s growing ties with China regarding economic investments, oil imports, and defense cooperation are also significant. Their cooperation at Salalah port, naval exercises, and port calls with Oman are increasing the presence of the Chinese in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean Region.
India-Oman bilateral trade has reached $12.4 billion, and substantive negotiations are being made for a comprehensive economic partnership. Indian investment is over $7.5 billion in steel, fertilizers, and other areas. In 2022, India was the second-largest importer of Omani crude oil after China, and in 2022-23, India imported Omani petroleum products worth $4.6 billion. Indian Oil Corporation 2018 acquired a 17% stake in the Mukheshna oil field in Oman, worth $330 billion. India, Oman, and Iran also discussed the possibility of an Iran-Oman-India deep-sea gas pipeline supplying India with about 31 million cubic meters of gas daily. However, there are issues of the project’s viability, including technological and financial viability. On renewable energy, Acme India Limited has reached an agreement in Oman to invest $3.5 billion over the next three years to construct Oman’s first commercial green ammonia and green hydrogen manufacturing plant.
Oman aims to become a hub for transportation and logistics linking East Africa, West Asia, and South Asia. India’s role in realising this goal is important as India is the only South Asian nation with a significant trade volume with West Asia and Africa. Oman is in discussion with India’s Adani Group for developing the Duqm port. An India-Oman joint venture called Sabacich-Oman, with a $62.7 million investment, is going on to establish the largest sebacic plant in the region inside the Duqm Special Economic Zone.
In the 2017 Qatar-Gulf crisis, Oman supported Kuwaiti mediation and exercised an independent foreign policy beyond the GCC, including good relations with Iran. Since the start of the crisis, Oman has also acted as a transshipment hub of cargo and people bound for Qatar to supplement the services of Qatari aircraft, which had been barred from crossing the Saudi and Emirati territorial waters and airspace. Oman helped transit hundreds of Qatar-bound ships via Suhar and Salalah seaports. Oman supported dialogue among the GCC members and between Saudi Arabia and Iran. There are also speculations that Oman helped secure the release of its naval officers who were accused of espionage by the Qatari court. As a member of the Rim Association, Oman remains an important Indian Ocean nation.
Dr Aftab Kamal Pasha
Prof. Aftab Kamal Pasha shed light on the historical ties between Oman and India. As the Portuguese came to the Indian Ocean and then to India in 1498, they expanded their presence in the Gulf to Bahrain and Bandar Abbas. Still, the Omanis built a decisive naval force. They chased the Portuguese from the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula and the entire eastern African coast from Kilwa to Zanzibar. These key ports fell to the Portuguese. They were able to drive them away from all of these Indian Ocean areas. In the Cold War era, Oman was the only Arab country that supported India during Bangladesh’s war of liberation in 1971, while most Arab nations supported Pakistan. Sultan Qaboos supported Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s peace initiative during his historic visit to Jerusalem in 1977. Oman’s moderate politics and support for diplomatic and peaceful resolution of regional conflicts are noteworthy. Prof Pasha pointed out that India’s historical trade relations included the Duqm and Salalah ports from the time of the Indian empires of Cholas and Cheras. Both ports should have been part of the India Middle East Economic Corridor (IMEC), which aims to connect India with Europe, as announced during the G20 Summit. There are indications that Oman is still interested in joining the railroad and port connections network. This will also help Intra-GCC cooperation if Oman is a part of IMEC. Oman is looking towards India for rapid economic development, diversification, education, technology, and IT sectors. Culturally, India and Oman remain closely connected.
Dr. Omair Anas expressed his heartfelt gratitude to both esteemed speakers for their invaluable insights on India-Oman Relations at the invitation of the Centre for India-West Asia Dialogue. The centre will remain engaged with scholars from West Asia and the world to exchange understanding of issues of bilateral and global importance.
