Foreign Secretary of India Harsh Vardhan Shringla met with Rear Admiral Saif Nasser Al Rahbi, the visiting Commander of the Royal Navy of Oman

Foreign Secretary of India Harsh Vardhan Shringla met with Rear Admiral Saif Nasser Al Rahbi, the visiting Commander of the Royal Navy of Oman, on Monday to discuss boosting bilateral defence cooperation as well as maritime security. While referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aspiration of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR), Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, wrote in a tweet post that both Shringla and Oman's Navy Commander Al Rahbi have “referred to the long history of India-Oman maritime cooperation."

Rajnath Singh Visited Dr Mohammed Bin Nasser Bin Ali Al-Zaabi For India-Oman defence cooperation

This meeting took place after Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Oman's Defence Ministry Secretary-General Dr Mohammed Bin Nasser Bin Ali Al-Zaabi on February 1 to discuss new pathways and sectors of mutual interest for bolstering the defence industry collaboration. Furthermore, during the meeting, the Secretary-General of Oman's Defence Ministry had briefed Rajnath Singh on the 11th India-Oman Joint Military Cooperation Committee Meeting (JMCC) on bilateral defence collaboration that happen on January 31 in New Delhi.

Furthermore, after a three-year gap, the JMCC summit was held between India and Oman. The JMCC is India and Oman's highest level of defence engagement, which accesses and guides the whole system of defence interactions between the two nations. The summit would begin off a number of high-level defence discussions between the two nations next month, as per official sources.

India-Oman Defence Cooperation

In addition to this, Defence Secretary Dr. Ajay Kumar and Dr. Mohammed Bin Nasser Bin Ali Al-Zaabi had co-chaired the JMCC meeting. According to the statement, the two sides discussed developments in military-to-military engagements which included joint drills, industry collaboration, and different current infrastructure projects. Both nations have also pledged to work together to combat the North Arabian Sea's drug trafficking problem.

The next JMCC will be hosted in Oman, according to the discussion during the meeting. The JMCC is the top body between the defence ministries of India and Oman, entrusted with assessing and advising all sectors of bilateral defence cooperation.