New Delhi: India and Oman are set to sign a trade deal within the coming months as New Delhi seeks to expand its ties within the Middle East the place rising geopolitical tensions are placing main delivery routes in danger. “It will help India with a strategic partner and access to key trade routes in a volatile region,” one official advised Reuters.
Although India and Oman have annual trade of lower than $13 billion, the connection is essential for New Delhi as Oman is a gateway to the Strait of Hormuz between the nation and Iran, a significant transit level for world oil shipments. The trade deal requires the approval of the following authorities after the continuing Lok Sabha elections, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is extensively anticipated to win one other time period.
India’s trade and international ministries and Oman’s embassy in India and international ministry didn’t reply to emails looking for remark. However, India has pivoted to looking for bilateral relations with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members corresponding to Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after little progress on a deal with the bloc.
The deliberate deal with Oman “also gives a competitive edge as GCC is negotiating trade agreements with Pakistan and China,” the official stated. Oman has agreed to remove duties on Indian exports price an annual $3 billion together with agricultural merchandise, gems and jewelry, leather-based, cars, medical units, engineering merchandise and textiles, the officers stated.
In an analogous response, India has agreed to scale back duties on some petrochemicals, aluminium and copper from Oman, whereas capping imports of such items.Â
This follows Oman Sultan Haitham bin Tarik’s go to to India in December final yr, the place he held delegation-level talks with PM Modi at Hyderabad House within the nationwide capital on Saturday, the place they adopted a brand new ‘India-Oman joint imaginative and prescient, a partnership for future’ specializing in ten important areas.
Significantly, India and Oman share a long-standing friendship rooted in historic, cultural, and financial ties. Furthermore, people-to-people contact between India and Oman might be traced again 5,000 years. The diplomatic relations between the 2 international locations have been established in 1955 and have been upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2008.
Geopolitical tensions in Middle East
Israel’s battle in opposition to Hamas in Gaza has unfold to hostilities with Iran, and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes within the Red Sea space, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. This has impeded world delivery and compelled vessels to keep away from the Red Sea route and use an extended route by Africa to attain their locations.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels reportedly focused the Andromeda Star oil tanker within the Red Sea on Friday. The Andromeda Star, engaged in trade linked to Russia, was en route from Primorsk, Russia, to Vadinar, India, when it got here below assault. Significantly, this incident provides to a string of strikes by Iran-aligned Houthi militants within the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, and Gulf of Aden since November.
Taking to X (previously Twitter), the US Central Command stated, “At 5:49 p.m. (Sanna time) on April 26, Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists launched three anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Red Sea in the vicinity of MV MAISHA, an Antiqua/Barbados-flagged, Liberia-operated vessel, and MV Andromeda Star, a UK-owned and Panamanian-flagged, Seychelles-operated vessel. MV Andromeda Star reports minor damage but is continuing its voyage.”
(with inputs from businesses)
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