India, Oman ink MoU on procurement of defence material, equipment

New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) India and Oman on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) pertaining to procurement of defence material and equipment which would provide a framework for a new area of defence collaboration.

The agreement was signed during the 12th Joint Military Cooperation Committee (JMCC) meeting in Muscat.

India's Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Oman's Defence Ministry's Secretary General Mohammed Bin Naseer Bin Ali Al Zaabi co-chaired the meeting, during which the two countries reviewed and appreciated the "robust defence cooperation" between India and Oman, the Defence Ministry (MoD) said in a statement. 

According to the MoD, the meeting delved into many new areas of cooperation in the fields of training, joint exercise, information sharing, oceanography, and ship building, that would build mutual trust and interoperability between militaries of both nations. 

They also exchanged views on regional and global issues of shared interest. 

Both sides discussed "effective and practical" initiatives to further boost bilateral defence engagements with focus on defence industries collaboration. 

Last month, India and Oman had adopted the India-Oman joint vision document titled ‘A Partnership for the Future’ the visit of Oman's Head of State Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik. The MoU signed on Wednesday was towards implementing the same.  

The MoD said that during the two day (January 30-31) visit to Oman, the Defence Secretary also held bilateral talks with the Secretary General. 

Aramane highlighted the potential of domestic defence industry with capacity, capability and looked forward to a fruitful partnership with the Armed Forces of Oman. Oman expressed confidence in the capability of Indian defence industry. 

The Defence Secretary also invited the Secretary General and his delegation to visit India to witness the defence industrial capability, especially in aerospace and maritime sectors. 

Oman is one of India’s closest defence partners in Gulf region and defence cooperation has emerged as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between India and Oman. The two countries are committed to work under the vision of strategic partnership, the MoD said. 

--IANS

gcb/sha