Oman Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik accorded ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan

NEW DELHI: The Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tarik, was accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Saturday, the second day of his state visit to India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu received the Sultan at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Sultan Haitham bin Tarik then inspected a Guard of Honour by the combined defence services.

The Sultan was received by Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, as he arrived at the Delhi airport on Friday for a three-day State visit.

Earlier, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Arindam Bagchi, said the visit by the Sultan of Oman will further boost the friendship and cooperation between the two nations.

"His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik of Oman arrives to a warm welcome in New Delhi on his first State Visit to India. Received by @MOS_MEA at the airport. The visit will further reinforce the longstanding friendship and cooperation between India & Oman and strengthen bilateral ties," Bagchi posted from his official handle on X.

The MEA noted that the maiden State visit by the Sultan of Oman marks a significant milestone in the diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Muscat.

The Sultan arrived in India at the invitation of President Murmu.

He will visit the National Gallery of Modern Art in the national capital on Friday and hold a meeting with PM Modi at Hyderabad House.

During his visit, PM Modi will also host a luncheon in honour of the Sultan. The visit will be an opportunity to explore avenues for future collaboration between India and Oman for regional stability, progress and prosperity, the MEA release stated.

Significantly, India and Oman share a long-standing friendship rooted in historical, cultural, and economic ties. Furthermore, people-to-people contact between India and Oman can be traced back 5,000 years.

The diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1955 and were upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2008.

Oman is India's closest defence partner in the Gulf region as well, with defence cooperation emerging as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between the two countries, according to the MEA.

Oman is the only country in West Asia with which all three services of the Indian Armed Forces conduct regular bilateral exercises and service-level staff talks.

India also extended a special invitation to the Sultanate of Oman to participate in the G20 Summit and meetings as a guest country under India's G20 Presidency.

Oman participated in over 150 working group meetings, with nine of its ministers taking part in various G20 ministerial meetings.