Oman Foreign Minister on India visit from tomorrow

New Delhi: Foreign Minister of Oman Sayyid Badr Hamad Hamood Al Busaidi is scheduled to arrive in India on Wednesday on a two-day official visit, External Affairs Ministry said today.

This will be the first visit of Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi to India in his capacity as Foreign Minister, according to the MEA.

The Omani foreign minister is arriving on an invitation by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. During his visit, he will meet Jaishankar on March 23 evening and undertake a comprehensive review of the progress made in the bilateral strategic partnership between the two countries.

Both ministers had met last in December in UAE on the sidelines of the Indian Ocean Conference.

The Ministers will also exchange views on recent regional and international developments, added the release.

India and Oman have continued close cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic and maintained high-level contacts.

India is among Oman’s top trading partners and bilateral trade for the current financial year (FY 2021-2022) so far is almost USD 7.5 billion, read the release.

People-to-people ties is another important facet of the bilateral relationship as Oman is home to approximately 620,000 Indian nationals.

Oman’s Foreign Minister visit coincides with the slew of foreign ministers who visited New Delhi in recent days.

These include Austrian, Greek, UK Foreign Ministers and US diplomats–Victoria Nuland and Donald Lu.

New Delhi had also held a bilateral Air Force exercise in Jodhpur between India and the Oman Air force in February.