Oman Sultan accorded ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan, holds bilateral talks with PM Modi

Oman Sultan Haitham bin Tarik arrived in India on a three-day state visit on Friday.

Updated on: Dec 16, 2023, 12:36:14 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tarik, was accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of Oman. (X/MEA)

Tarik arrived in India on a three-day state visit on Friday. He was received by Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan. The Sultan arrived in India at the invitation of President Droupadi Murmu.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Murmu received the Sultan at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The sultan then inspected a Guard of Honour by the combined defence services.

Following this, Modi and the Sultan arrived at Hyderabad House in Delhi to hold bilateral talks. The prime minister will also host a luncheon in Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik's honour.

Earlier, the official spokesperson for MEA, Arindam Bagchi, said the visit by the Sultan of Oman will further boost the friendship and cooperation between the two nations.

"His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik of Oman arrives to a warm welcome in New Delhi on his first State Visit to India. Received by @MOS_MEA at the airport. The visit will further reinforce the longstanding friendship and cooperation between India & Oman and strengthen bilateral ties," Bagchi posted from his official handle on X.

The MEA noted that the maiden State visit by the Sultan of Oman marks a significant milestone in the diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Muscat.

India-Oman relations

India and Oman share a long-standing friendship rooted in historical, cultural, and economic ties. Furthermore, people-to-people contact between India and Oman can be traced back 5,000 years.

The diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1955 and were upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2008.

According to the MEA, Oman is India's closest defence partner in the Gulf region as well, with defence cooperation emerging as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Oman is the only country in West Asia with which all three services of the Indian Armed Forces conduct regular bilateral exercises and service-level staff talks.

India also extended a special invitation to the Sultanate of Oman to participate in the G20 Summit and meetings as a guest country under India's G20 Presidency, according to ANI

Oman participated in over 150 working group meetings, with nine of its ministers taking part in various G20 ministerial meetings.

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