Oman Foreign Minister to visit India

New Delhi March 30 (IANS) Omani Foreign Affairs Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah will visit India on April 2-3 the invitation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj it was announced on Thursday.

India s close and friendly relations with Oman are based on historical people to people contacts and are marked by regular exchange of high-level bilateral visits the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

Oman is an important trading partner of India in the Gulf region with bilateral trade exceeding $3.86 billion in 2015-16 it said.

There are around 688 000 expatriate Indians in Oman.

The Omani minister earlier visited India in February and June 2014. Sushma Swaraj paid a return visit to Oman in February 2015.

During the forthcoming visit the two sides would discuss bilateral regional and other issues of mutual interest the statement said.

--IANS
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