Muscat: India and Oman are strengthening their longstanding defence partnership with a renewed focus on military education, professional training and institutional exchanges.
A delegation from India’s National Defence College (NDC) was received by Vice Admiral Abdullah bin Khamis Al Raisi, Chief of Staff of the Sultan’s Armed Forces, at Al Murtafa Camp in Oman.
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The delegation was led by Air Vice Marshal Manish Vasantkumar Patel, Senior Advisor at the National Defence College. Discussions focused particularly on expanding academic and training cooperation under the existing bilateral defence framework.
The latest engagement adds an important layer to India-Oman defence relations, which already encompass joint exercises, staff talks and broader military cooperation.
Oman is the only Gulf country with which all three Indian armed services conduct bilateral exercises, while the two countries also maintain annual service-level staff talks. Their next editions of the Army, Navy and Air Force exercises are planned for late 2026.
Military education provides a different form of strategic engagement. Exchanges between institutions such as India's NDC and Oman's defence establishments can build long-term professional networks among senior officers, while facilitating the exchange of perspectives on regional security and military strategy.
Oman occupies a strategically important position at the entrance to the Gulf and the Arabian Sea, making it particularly relevant to India's maritime-security interests.
The relationship is also expanding beyond training and exercises. India and Oman have been working towards deeper defence-industrial cooperation, technology sharing, joint development and production partnerships, while Omani ports support Indian Navy deployments in the Western Indian Ocean.
The latest NDC engagement therefore reflects a broader evolution in the partnership—from conducting exercises together to building institutional knowledge, professional military networks and deeper strategic interoperability.
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