New Delhi:The External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar will be visiting two middle eastern countries, Iran and Oman from December 22 to 24.
The External Affairs Minister will reach Tehran on December 22. Here, he will stay for two days. Apart from attending the 19th Joint Commission meeting, which will be co-chaired by Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, he is expected to call on President Rouhani as well.
The announcement regarding the joint commission meet took place during the Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale's visit to Tehran in September. This will be Dr Jaishankar's first visit to Iran and third meet with his Iranian counterpart since taking charge as a minister.
Post which Dr Jaishankar will visit Oman on December 24. He is visiting the country on the invitation of Oman's Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Alawi.
Apart from meeting his counterpart, Dr Jaishankar will hold meetings with other ministers to discuss matters of mutual interest. An agreement for cooperation in the field of Maritime Transport will be signed during the visit. Jaishankar will also interact with the Indian community in Muscat during the visit.
Oman is a strategic partner of India. Prime Minister Modi visited Oman in February 2018.
India is among Oman’s top trading partners. During 2018-19, bilateral trade was US$ 5 billion. In 2018, India was the second-largest importer of crude oil from Oman. There are over 7,80,000 Indian citizens in Oman, second largest expatriate community in the country.
This will be the first visit of External Affairs Minister to Oman after the new government in India took over in May 2019. The visit is in pursuit of India’s objective of enhanced engagement with the Gulf region which is in India’s extended neighbourhood.
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