India will seek to strengthen its strategic partnership with Oman when defence minister Bader bin Saood Al Busaidi visits Delhi this week, with measures including early operationalisation of Duqm port for its navy and training of Omanese military officers in India, as part of its efforts to push its Indo-Pacific strategy.

The visit will help further Oman’s nascent space programme and expansion of bilateral military exercises, said officials, as Oman is putting in place its space agency and seeking India’s expertise to enhance skills in that sector. The two sides are also looking to put in place a mechanism for ensuring rule of law in the western part of the Indian Ocean region, they said.

The Indian Navy will be able to use the facilities at Duqm port in Oman, thanks to a pact signed between the two countries during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Muscat last February, giving India a foothold in its extended neighbourhood.

Among eight agreements that were signed during Modi’s visit was a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the defence ministries of the two countries on the provision of facilities for the visit of Indian military vessels to Duqm port in terms of services and the use of the dry-dock for maintenance. Another MoU was signed between India’s Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and Oman’s National Defense College.

Located on the south-eastern seaboard of Oman, overlooking the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, the Duqm port is rapidly transforming maritime landscape in West Asia. According to experts, it has the potential to develop into one of the region’s largest ports in the long run. At the heart of its appeal, they said, is its strategic geopolitical location.

An Indo-Omani joint statement issued at the end of Modi's visit reflected growing maritime cooperation. “The two sides agreed to enhance cooperation to strengthen maritime security in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean regions, vital for the security and prosperity of both countries,” it said.

The port will act as India’s entry point for wider West Asia and Eastern Africa, a welcome development at a time when China has deployed strategic assets in the Indian Ocean Region, experts said.

India’s interest in Duqm port, which is merely at a 40-minute flight distance from Mumbai, has been necessitated by the fact that the Chinese navy has increased its activities in the western part of the Indian Ocean Region besides setting up a military base in Djibouti.

Oman is strategically situated mid-way between India’s western coast and Africa’s eastern coast and has been an old maritime power in the region whose reach stretched from modern-day Pakistan to the eastern part of Africa.

It is India’s oldest defence partner in West Asia and an ally in its anti-piracy campaign. India had supplied rifles to Oman, which in turn had sent support for India’s fleet of Hawk aircraft. It is the only country in West Asia that conducts exercises of all three forces – army, air force and navy – with India.

India is also considering setting up defence production facilities in Oman. The Arab country has given berthing rights to Indian Navy vessels, which have been used for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.