Terming ties with India as "close", Oman foreign minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi has said that the "sky's the limit" for the relationship between the two countries. Speaking to WION in Muscat, on the sidelines of the Indian Ocean Conference, FM Busaidi said, while both countries are celebrating 70 years of formal diplomatic relationship this year, "relationship with India extends far beyond that. It's 5,000 years of connection between the people of India and the people of Oman and this region, we are very much really blessed, I think, to have such a beautiful, constructive, close relationship with India." 

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Earlier this week, both Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Oman FM jointly released a logo to celebrate 70 years of ties between the two countries and a book "Mandvi to Muscat" that details the diaspora connections between the two countries. The foreign minister pointed out that the "potential for further growth and further partnership in all fields is there to be grasped by governments, by the private sector, by the young people of both countries."

Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tarik visited India in December 2023 while PM Modi visited the country in 2018. During India's G20 Presidency, it invited Oman as one of the guest countries. Oman is India’s oldest Gulf defence partner, with formal ties since 1972. 

Joint exercises like Naseem Al Bahr (naval, last held November 2022) and Al Najah (army, latest in September 2024) occur biennially across all three services. Bilateral trade more than doubled from USD 5.4 billion in 2020-21 to USD 12.3 billion in 2022-23. Both countries are currently negotiating the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

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India-Mauritius ties

The country, earlier this month hosted the mega Indian Ocean Conference that saw the gathering of several foreign ministers from the Indian Ocean region, including India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. Pointing out that Oman has been a "seafaring nation for millennia", the foreign minister said, "We will continue to play our friendship and openness with all the countries in the Indian Ocean with which we really have a very, very constructive and healthy relationship." 

Also Read: India, Oman ties firing on all cylinders: Ambassador Amit Narang

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He invited "everybody to Oman and to engage with Oman, our location really invites connectivity with South East Asia, with West Asia, all the way south also to Africa, I think really can play a very important role, along with our partners in the region." Duqm port, located in Oman’s Al Wusta Governorate on the southeastern coast, has emerged as a strategic forward logistics hub for India in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).