By IANS,
New Delhi : India and Oman are set to scale up economic and strategic ties when Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor goes on a three-day visit Friday to the Gulf country which is home to over half a million expatriate Indians.
The focus of the visit will be on scaling up economic ties to a new level. An 11-member business delegation will be accompanying Tharoor on this visit.
Tharoor will hold strategic and diplomatic consultations with Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Al Busaidi, secretary general in the ministry of foreign affairs.
He will also call on the foreign minister and defence minister of Oman.
The visit is expected to further strengthen and deepen the strategic relationship to our mutual advantage, the external affairs ministry said here Thursday.
Trade and investment between India and Oman have shown a distinct upswing in the last few years. India is the fifth largest source of imports into Oman. Oman investments in India have exceeded $200 million primarily in refineries, tourism, pharmaceutical industry and home furniture.
In 2008, major Indian companies, independently or in collaboration, bagged contracts worth $836 million.
It’s not just economic engagement that is growing. The two countries decided to step up defence cooperation by upgrading their joint naval exercises during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Oman in 2008.