Muscat: Oman’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Yousuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, arrived on Wednesday in India for an official visit that’s expected to focus on defence and security cooperation and is likely to increase trade and investment between the two countries.
Oman and India’s bilateral trade has already reached a new high at $4.52 billion (Dh16.60 billion) with the sultanate’s investment estimated to be around three billion US dollars.
Yousuf Bin Alawi will meet the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the visit which will last several days. He also planned to meet his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna for detailed talks on Wednesday evening.
“The two countries are scheduled to discuss all aspects of bilateral relations, with an emphasis on enhancing trade and investment,” said the spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Vishnu Prakash, while briefing media in Delhi.
“The continuous high level contact between the two countries is bound to add new dynamism to the relations,” the Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
He also pointed out that issues related to Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), initially known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative, are also on the agenda. Both India and Oman are the founding members of the IOR-ARC.
The IOR-ARC is an international organisation with 18 member states. The Association provides information on trade and investment regimes, with a view to helping the region's business community better understand impediments to trade and investment within the region.
