India and Oman agreed to extend the tenure of the existing bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Military Cooperation, signed in December 2005, for a further period. On December 28, 2011 the documents were signed by the Defence Minister AK Antony and Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, His Excellency Badar bin Saud bin Harib al Busaidi, who visited India with a delegation for this purpose. The 5th meeting of the India-Oman Joint Military Cooperation Committee was held in India in September, 2011.
This was followed by a joint Air Forces’ Exercise- Eastern Bridge at Jamnagar, Gujarat in October and a joint Naval exercise Naseem Al Bahr off the coast of Mumbai in December 2011. Discussing important issues relating to regional and maritime security, Antony noted that incidents of piracy are occurring close to the Oman coast and have been spreading close to the Lakshadweep Islands. Both Ministers stressed the need for continued and concerted efforts of the world community to effectively address the problem.
