Defence and Maritime Security

Defence and Maritime Security

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, both the governments of Oman and India have placed emphasis on cooperation in defence and maritime issues. The Sultanate was the first country in the GCC to establish defence ties with India in the 1970s4 .

All the three armed forces of India and Oman conduct regular biennial bilateral exercises. Oman is in fact the only country in the Gulf with which all three services of the Indian defence forces conduct joint exercises5. Both countries conducted joint military exercises in 2006 and subsequently signed a defence agreement. In 2008, New Delhi and Muscat formed a strategic partnership institutionalising biennial naval and air exercises. In addition, the Indian Air Force has been conducting biannual joint exercises with the Royal Air Force of Oman since 2009. Former Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar visited Oman in May 2016, during which, four MoUs pertaining to defence issues were signed: Marine Crime Prevention at Sea, Maritime Coopeartion and Flight Safety information Exchange. The former Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Oman in 2006 defined India’s focus on developing robust defence ties with Oman, with the view that successful India-Oman economic ties could be replicated in the defence field. Similarly, the visit of former Defence minister A K Antony to Oman in 2010 reiterated India’s emphasis on carving solid defence ties with Oman. Sayyid Badr bin Saud al Busaidi, Oman’s former Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs and Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s former Defence Minister undertook a comprehensive review of bilateral defence cooperation during the former’s visit to India in 2018. They agreed upon a range of measures to enhance defence cooperation between the two countries and prioritised cooperation in maritime security and defence industry for future engagement. Subsiquently in February 2020, Sayyid Badr bin Saud al Busaidi helf comprihensive discussions with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the sidelines of DEFEXPO 2020 at Lakhnow.

India offers various military courses to Omani defence personnel under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme6. In January 2017, the Indian and Omani Air Forces conducted a five day joint exercise ‘Eastern Bridge’ in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Later in March, the two armies conducted the second edition of the joint exercise Al-Najah in Bakloh,

4 Cafiero, G. (2016). ‘Oman diversifies allies with closer India ties’. 5 Quamar, M. (2018, June 18). ‘Locating Oman in India’s strategic engagement with the

Gulf’. Middle East Institute. 6 Kesnur, S., Mohan, K. & Chatterji, T. (2020). ‘From the times of Meluhha and Magan:

A brief overview of India-Oman maritime ties’.

Himachal Pradesh. Omani and Indian Army units carried out a joint-training exercise, named ‘Nagah-I’ in Jebel Akhdar mountains in January 2015 to strengthen field skills, improve combat efficiency and enhance coordination in information exchange. Both the nations also share significant defence ties in the form of MoUs for cooperation between Oman’s National Defence College (NDC) and India’s Manohar Parikkar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA). This has led to a growing congruence in studies conducted between these two think tanks and has emerged as another pillar of strategic collaboration. In 2005, Oman became the first country in the GCC to initiate a robust defence and security cooperation mechanism with India which was renewed in 2016. In 2010, the Royal Army of Oman was supplied 500 Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) rifles produced in India as per a bilateral defence agreement7 . The robust defence and security cooperation between India and Oman was recently underscored by the joint statement issued during the Oman visit of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It noted that “The MoU on Military Cooperation…has provided the general framework to strengthen bilateral defence ties.” Further, the two sides “expressed satisfaction at the signing of an annexure to the existing MoU”. They agreed to “provide further impetus to the robust defence relations, including through regular holding of joint exercises by the three defence forces.” Oman and India also expressed “satisfaction at the progress achieved in the ninth round of bilateral Joint Military Cooperation Committee talks.”8

7 The Hindustan Times. (2010, April 22). ‘Oman army all set to use India’s INSAS rifles’. 8 Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (2018, February 12). ‘India Oman Joint Statement during the visit of Prime Minister to Oman’. shorturl.at/cetBS