India’s engagement with Gulf region historic, says senior Omani editor

New Delhi [India], January 20 (ANI): Be it Indian silk, spices or Information Technology, India’s growth in each sector is helping Oman and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) come closer to New Delhi and the ties are getting stronger by the day, senior Omani editor said on his recent visit to New Delhi.

While highlighting the historical and cultural aspects of the relations, Khalid Al Busaidi, a senior news editor of Oman News Agency (ONA) told ANI, “We have so many things in common, for example, the Omani costumes, they make their fashion from Indian silk. So it is very popular in my country and we cannot make the biryani without Indian spices.” He added, “We have so many things in common and the presence of the Indian workers in my country, we are familiar with each other, we cooperate in so many fields and the progress made by India in IT and technology is really impressive.”

Khalid said that not only Oman but other GCC member states also getting benefitted from India’s overall growth. “I think GCC states and my country can benefit from such development because IT technology, the world of IT, is developing overnight. So there are many things emerging and we visited the India Institute of Technology (IIT). We have been seeing the outputs, the graduates of these schools and their success stories after they graduated from the institute. It was really impressive…”, Khalid Al Busaidi said.

He stressed that Indians have also played a major role in the growth of the Gulf region as a huge Indian-origin population is working in these countries at all levels.
“Definitely, the Indian workers play an important role in the economic prosperity not only in Oman but also in the GCC states. We are depending on each other. If I have a 60 per cent potential, maybe India has a 40 per cent potential so we can cooperate together and vice versa.

So that’s really important because India with the potentials it enjoys in every field can complement the other side of the GCC states in many fields,” Khalid said.
The Omani journalist said India’s G20 presidency will help strengthen ties between New Delhi and Muscat. “We are really happy that Oman is invited to the summit’s meetings. Inviting Oman is also a reflection of the advanced and historical relations between Oman and India,” Khalid said.

Underscoring global hopes from India’s G20 presidency amidst widening rifts between the countries Khalid Al Busaidi said, “India is hosting the summit amidst the very serious challenges, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and the disruption of supply chain globally, and mitigation of climate change, but I am sure that India can do a good job regarding the issues to be presented in the meetings and India has gone a long way to mitigate all the issues or the topics presented at the meetings”.

“So, we hope that India is going to be successful after being president of the current session of G-20,” Khalid added.