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Several milestones in Oman-India ties: Wadhwa

MUSCAT — Colours of India shone brightly as the Indian community in Oman celebrated a historic occasion in the august company of their Omani friends and well-wishers from various other communities living in Oman. And in great style, too.

A heavily-attended reception was held on the Indian embassy premises yesterday in celebration of the 60th Republic Day of India. Sayyid Al Mutassim bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Muscat governor; Sheikha Aysha bint Khalfan bin Jameel Al Siyabiyah, president, Public Authority for Craft Industries and Khalil bin Abdullah Al Khonji, chairman of OCCI, were among the special guests for the evening.

Speaking at the reception, Anil Wadhwa, Indian ambassador, thanked His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and his government for the benevolence, which provides a homely ambience to the large Indian expatriate community living in the Sultanate.

Highlighting how India’s relationship with Oman has progressed, the ambassador said: “The past year has been a very satisfactory one in our bilateral relations and we have achieved several milestones on multiple fronts. On the political front, there were several high-level visits from both sides between August and December 2008, the major highlight being the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Oman in November during which two significant MoUs — one on manpower cooperation and the other on setting up an India-Oman Joint Investment Fund with a seed capital of $100 million with a provision to raise it up to $1.5 billion, were signed.”

Pointing out that India-Oman Joint Investment Fund is the first of its kind that India has set up with any country in the world, the ambassador said: “This reflects the importance that India attaches to its relationship with Oman.”

“Follow-up discussions regarding the fund have moved swiftly and we expect the fund to become formally operational in March 2009,” he said. The ambassador added that the fund would focus on core infrastructure sectors and real estate.

“But more significantly, we envisage the fund to act as a catalyst to private sector investments from both countries,” he said.

Anil Wadhwa highlighted the visit of Dr Mohammed Al Zubair, adviser to His Majesty the Sultan for economic planning, to India for the first meeting of the India Oman Working Group, which was co-chaired by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India. “This meeting, which was held only a few days ago, starts out a new direction for future of Indo-Oman economic relations,” he said.

Mentioning important visits from Oman to India, the ambassador said: “The visits of Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidy, secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May; Mohammed bin Ali bin Nasir Al Alawi, minister of legal affairs in June, Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, minister responsible for foreign affairs in December; Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Al Romhi, minister of oil & gas during 2008 were significant.”

The ambassador informed the audience that Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, minister of national economy and deputy chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council, had accepted an invitation from India. He also announced that Saiffudin Soz, water resources minister from India; and Vinod Rai, comptroller and auditor-general of India are expected to visit Oman in February. “According to the latest figures, our non-oil bilateral trade during the January-August 2008 period recorded 34.2 per cent growth to reach $1.23 billion from $990 million during the corresponding period in 2007,” the ambassador said. “Omani exports to India grew by 75.7 per cent to touch $473 million and Omani imports from India grew by 5 per cent to reach $757 million compared to the corresponding period in 2007,” he added.

The ambassador said Indian companies in Oman has been performing incredibly during the past one year. “In 2008, more than 32,600 Omanis visited India, which is a rise by over 35 per cent over the figure in 2007. We expect the annual India-bound tourist traffic from Oman to cross 40,000 by the end of 2009,” the ambassador said. The evening’s programme began with the band from Indian School Muscat playing the national anthem of Oman and India. The evening also saw a cultural programme presented by Vasantha Vaikunth’s Centre for Performing Arts.