India a highly respected partner: Sayyid Badr

Muscat: India is a highly respected partner of Oman’s, according to H.E Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The comment came when he met with Dr.S Jaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs of India, during the Indian Ocean Conference 2019 .

Sayyid Badr said about the meeting: “I am delighted to meet Dr. Jaishankar, the external affairs minister of India, a highly respected partner of Oman.

“We hope to welcome him to Muscat soon,” he added, calling the meeting “friendly.”

Dr. Jaishankar said: “This was a warm meeting with the secretary general Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi on the Indian Ocean Conference. [I] value our strategic partnership and am committed to working closely together.”

The conference, which took place in Maldives on 3-4 September, discussed a wide range of challenges “such as rising sea water levels, hazardous levels of pollution of the seas leading to depletion of marine livestock, and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing,” according to a statement from conference organisers.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sayyid Badr also met with Abdulla Shahid, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Maldives, where they discussed “developing the opportunities for cooperation in the fields of transport, tourism, and subjects of common interest.”