INDIA and Oman on Thursday signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tarik and explored ways to further add greater depth to the bilateral Strategic Partnership. Modi, who arrived in Oman on Wednesday on the last leg of his three-nation tour, was welcomed by Sultan Haitham at Al Baraka Palace in Muscat before their ‘one-on-one talks and the delegation-level meeting’. “Today, we are taking a historic step forward in IndiaOman relations, whose positive impact will be felt for decades to come.

 

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will energise our ties in the 21st century,” Modi said. He said the agreement will give new momentum to trade, investment and open new opportunities across different sectors, and greatly benefit the youth of both nations. Modi thanked the Sultan for his efforts in finalising the historic CEPA, as he described it as “a new and golden chapter” of bilateral cooperation. India has protected the interest of domestic farmers and MSMEs by not extending any duty concessions on products across several sectors, including agricultural items such as dairy, as well as chocolates, gold, silver, jewellery, footwear, and sports goods, under the trade pact with Oman.

 

It includes “agricultural products, including dairy, tea, coffee, rubber, and tobacco products; gold and silver bullion, jewellery; other labour-intensive products such as footwear, sports goods; and scrap of many base metals”, the Ministry said. The Free Trade Agreement with Oman has included India’s traditional medicines, which will provide greater market access for Ayush products in the Gulf nation. This is the first time that India’s traditional medicines have been included in a trade pact. They also exchanged views on regional and global developments and reaffirmed their commitment to regional peace and stability.

 

They reaffirmed their commitment to further enhancing the defence and security collaboration, including in the maritime domain. The CEPA - signed by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Oman’s Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef - is expected to enhance market access, promote investments, and strengthen cooperation across key sectors. The pact will increase trade between the two countries by reducing trade barriers and creating a stable framework. It will unlock opportunities in all major sectors of the economy, enhance economic growth, create jobs and boost investment flows between both countries.

 

energy requirement will be highly dependent on nuclear sources, with AI coming in a big way. “This (nuclear energy) will be the most reliable, steady 24x7 source of energy, unlike some other renewable sources,” he pointed out. Defending the opening up of the tightly-controlled civil nuclear sector for private participation, Singh said the “fruits and the outcomes” of opening various sectors to private players have been very rewarding. He said that when the Government opened up the space sector, its economy was dismal, but today it is USD 8 billion. “And, the pace is so fast that in the next eight to ten years, we hope to go five times to USD 45 billion. The concept of space startups was unheard of. Today, we have over 300 space startups.

 

In the space sector, some of them have turned multi-millionaires. And some of them have global potential. This was possible because private sector participation was allowed. The FDI was allowed,” Singh said. He also asserted that the safety provisions in the nuclear bill have not been compromised in any way.