By IANS,
Muscat : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived here Saturday afternoon to start a bilateral ties bolstering tour of the Gulf nations of Oman and Qatar.
The prime minister, who is leading a high-level delegation, was received at the Royal Airport here by Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Fahd Bin Mahmoud Al Said and was presented with a guard of honour.
Among those accompanying the prime minister are Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed.
National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia are also part of the delegation.
Delegation level talks will be held between Singh and Sayyid Fahd later in the evening.
This will be followed by the signing of three agreements between India and Oman – one on setting up an India-Oman Joint Investment Fund, another on manpower development and a third between the foreign service training institutes of the two countries.
On Sunday, Singh will meet members of the Indian business community and then attend a reception for representatives of the 500,000-strong Indian community in Oman.
The prime minister will hold talks with Oman’s ruler Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said prior to departing for Qatar in the afternoon on the second and last leg of his Gulf tour.
This is the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Oman in 10 years after Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit in 1998.