India, Oman to hold 10th military cooperation panel meeting

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Last Updated30/01/2022

After a gap of three years, India and Oman are set to hold a meeting of the Joint Military Cooperation Committee (JMMC) during the visit to New Delhi of Secretary General, Ministry of Defence of Oman, Mohammed Nasser Al Zaabi.
This would initiate a series of high-level defence engagements between the two countries next month, officials said.

The JMCC is the highest forum of engagement between India and Oman in the field of defence that evaluates and provides guidance to the overall framework of defence exchanges between the two sides.
The JMCC was to meet annually, but could not be organised since 2018, when the meeting of the 9th JMCC was held in Oman.
Given the three-year gap, the 10th edition is expected to “comprehensively evaluate” the ongoing exchanges and “provide a road map for further strengthening the defence ties in the coming years.”

Oman remains India’s closest defence partner in the region.
It is the only country in the region with which all the three services of India conduct regular bilateral exercises and staff talks.
Defence exchanges between the two countries are guided by a framework MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), which was renewed in 2021.
As part of its anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Navy has deployed its P-8I long-range maritime surveillance aircraft for anti-piracy patrol sorties from Salalah in Oman on few occasions, extending the reach and operational turnaround.

Oman also actively participates in the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS).
In addition, as part of bilateral training cooperation, the Omani forces regularly attend training courses in India both at the professional as well as the higher command level.
In return, Indian service personnel too attend Staff and Command courses conducted at the National Defence College in Oman.