Muscat: As India and Oman continue to deepen their longstanding defence partnership, a delegation from India's National Defence College was received by Oman's Vice Admiral Abdullah bin Khamis Al Raisi, Chief of Staff, Sultan's Armed Forces.
Sharing the details in a post on X, the Embassy of India in Oman said that the two sides held discussions on key areas of collaboration, particularly those pertinent to academic and training collaboration, under the purview of the long-standing India-Oman bilateral defence cooperation.
The Embassy said on X, "Chief of Staff, Sultan's Armed Forces receives Senior Directing Staff and delegates from the National Defence College of the Republic of India. Vice Admiral Abdullah bin Khamis Al Raisi, Chief of Staff, Sultan's Armed Forces, received Air Vice Marshal Manish Vasantkumar Patel, Senior Advisor at the National Defence College of the Republic of India, and his accompanying delegation at Al Murtafa Camp."
It added, "The Chief of Staff Sultan's Armed Forces, welcomed the visiting delegation, and the two sides exchanged friendly conversation. A number of topics of common interest were discussed, particularly those pertinent to academic and training collaboration, under the purview of the long-standing India-Oman bilateral defence cooperation."
Oman is a strategic partner of India and an important interlocutor at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Arab League, and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) fora.
India and Oman are linked by geography, history, and culture and enjoy warm and cordial relations. While people-topeople contact between India and Oman can be traced back 5000 years, diplomatic relations were established in 1955, and the relationship was upgraded to a Strategic Partnership in 2008.
Oman is a crucial pillar of India's West Asia Policy and its oldest regional strategic partner.
The Ministry of External Affairs noted in a bilateral briefO how man is one of India's closest defence partner in the Gulf region, and defence cooperation has emerged as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between India and Oman. Notably, India has the highest number of Defence MoUs with Oman, when compared with any country in West Asia.
