Perspective : INDIA-OMAN CEPA: UNLOCKING OPPORTUNITIES | 02 June, 2026

Hinzugefügt: 2026-06-03

[00:00:01][music] [music] Namaskar viewers. Hello and welcome to Sensa TV. I'm Tina Ja. You're watching Perspective. India and Oman have entered a new phase in their economic partnership with the operationalization of the comprehensive economic partnership agreement or SEPA from the 1st of June 2026. The landmark agreement is expected to deepen trade and investment ties, boost exports, create new employment opportunities and also strengthen economic integration between the two countries. Signed in Musket in December last year in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Sultan of Oman, the SEPA gives Indian exporters unprecedented access to the Omani market. Under the agreement, Oman will provide duty-free access to over 99% of India's exports by value.

[00:00:59]benefiting key sectors such as agriculture, textiles, gems and jewelry.

[00:01:03]Also pharmaceuticals, engineering goods and automobiles. Uh significantly, India is only the second country after the United States to secure such a comprehensive trade agreement with Oman.

[00:01:15]Now to help understand how the separ can now serve as a catalyst for greater economic and strategic cooperation between India and Oman, we are joined by a distinguished panel of experts. I'm delighted to welcome on this edition of Perspective, Ambassador Anil Triunayat.

[00:01:29]He's a former diplomat. Ambassador, thank you for taking our time. Welcome to Sensor TV. Also pleased to welcome Professor Anu Jooshi. She's a professor of international relations, school of international studies, JNU. Professor, thank you for taking our time and it's always a pleasure doing shows with you.

[00:01:43]In fact, let's begin the program today with you before we come to the significance of this agreement. uh the current geopolitical environment that uh uh this uh trade agreement comes into operationalization especially in context of what's happening at the state of Hormuz it's the energy choke point in the current scenario why was it important for India to get this agreement operationalized as soon as possible given uh the the situation at the state of Hormos and especially in context of our dependence energy dependence through this route >> thank you so much Tina first and foremost most for having me on this show and providing me this great opportunity to discuss my thoughts and some facts on this very uh relevant topic and uh indeed it's a news of delight uh to hear to see that how this comprehensive economic partnership agreement SEPA which was signed between India and Oman last year in the month of December uh has been operationalized and we all know that we all are living in a situation of flux in geopolitics especially in context text of West Asia. We all know that after weaponization of state of Hornmuse by Iran and the way Iran has choked it, what kind of energy crisis the whole world is facing and amid this situation this agreement between India and Oman indeed opens a window of uh opportunities for both the countries uh wherein we have over the years elevated our bilateral relationship with Oman into a multi-dimensional strategic partnership which spans around energy cooperation, defense cooperation, technology cooperation and economic cooperation of course. So this agreement from 1st June it has been operationalized. It actually provides immense opportunities first and foremost to our exporters uh and uh to Omani market and the deal provides zero duty access across 98% of Omani uh tariff lines covering over 99% of India's exports and it is about to boost our MSM sector and exporters belonging to textile industry and engineering goods agriculture pharmaceuticals and so on and from energy securityities point of view Tina let me also tell you that we have a special strategic partnership with Oman wherein we have a port accessis of Oman's uh port of Dukam which is uh when we look at the whole situation in West Asia is really significant and Oman serves as a vital anchor not only from this particular strategic angle uh and geopolitical angle it also from energy security's point of view it is a vital anchor for our energy connectivity and it provides us a longterm access and security in terms of providing its crude crude oil, LNG, different chemicals like ammonia and fertilizers and our bilateral trade also it stood at 10.61 billion USD last year and it is also elevating. So from like uh energy connect connectors point of view from this geopolitical engagement's point of view from strategic and defense cooperations point of view or like from mobility's point of view let me also share this fact uh with the viewers that uh almost six lakh Indians are contributing uh to Omani economy to Indian economy they're living in Oman and working happily over there so from this point of view Oman needs more skilled professionals in different areas and that's where this agreement also opens the doors and windows of opportunity from this mobilities point of view. So all in all it's a win-win situation for both the nations and considering the situation right now uh and the kind of challenges the whole world is facing including India. This particular agreement uh with Oman actually provides uh immense opportunities in all these different areas that I have just mentioned. That's right. And especially at a time uh when ambassador uh the countries and especially countries like India that are energy dependent uh uh we are all looking for partnerships which are more resilient and more trusted trade partnerships. uh given the geographical advantage that Oman has and uh in the current geopolitical context in the state of Hormuz, how do you see uh the SEPA between India and uh uh Oman fit into uh the the broader engagement that India has in this region in in with the Gulf countries.

[00:06:08]>> Uh well, Tina G, I must firstly I must endorse whatever Ashuji has said. Uh and secondly, I want to say that our histo relationship with Oman is truly historic in many ways. We both have been maritime powers and maritime nations and have been trading for centuries actually.

[00:06:29]It's not from in recent times. Uh India had as you know stopped u negotiating various free trade agreements because most of them were benefiting our partners and not us earlier. But today what SEAPA that we signed like with the UAE in 2022 and the one that we have signed with the Oman now is actually um in all comprehensive uh partnership agreement in which we have trade, we have services, we have both goods and services, investments, IPRs and all other things. So this is a more comprehensive kind of an agreement and the fact that we are the second country after the United States that it has been signed also shows the kind of importance Oman attaches as well as India attaches to our relationship with Oman. Oman is also the unique country in the region because it does not take sides. It always tries to mediate in conflicts with various countries. So its policy in a way very much resembles with that of India. We also work with bilaterally with countries and as far as possible we don't like to interfere in anybody's affairs but we also are honest interlocutors like Omani so there is a lot of semblance and as was mentioned that we have also got an access to a very important port in Dukum uh which is uh now India is working very in greater earnest uh to develop it more and try to create uh some kind of a strategic autonomy in airport. Although let's not forget that China is the biggest buyer of crude from Oman.

[00:08:09]Secondly, the geography of Oman is such that it is it falls outside the state of Hormones as well and it also controls half of the 12 km of the economic zone of the state of Hormos. So it does have an equal say uh like the Iranians do have. So Iranians by themselves cannot enforce any kind of a blockade or a fee without taking Oman into consideration.

[00:08:35]So therefore in that sense also it's going to be an equally important agreement that we will have with them.

[00:08:42]It's a country with which India's relationship has been growing uh from strategic to comprehensive strategic partnership in every which way that we can think of. one of the most um I should say moderate countries, a country that thinks of future, that thinks of no conflicts and works very closely also in the context of Africa. I mean they they were as you know that they had an empire which lasted till Tanzania and all that.

[00:09:07]So they also have very close connect. So from our perspective and being a maritime power uh for India it provides an additional space. I would not say this whole thing because this is an important agreement. we only had about um some u I think 5% of the uh some of the a certain part of our uh trade which was uh imposed 5% of duty was imposed on that which amounted to about 3.6 or 3.7 billion. Today our trade is roughly about 11 billion uh with that with them and that could continue to grow. Then we are also looking at the pipelines direct pipelines. Now the proposal has again been revived between noman and India.

[00:09:51]Now if that happens that will be again a very important thing for our energy security as well. Fertilizer we spoke about we are importing a lot of it. But I must say that I was involved in the very first fertilizer plant some 30 years ago with uh Oman. That was the first ever uh project that India had undertaken in manufacturing fertilizers outside. And this was a truly a win-win situation which the Omanis greatly appreciate. And of course many of our Indians who have been there for hundreds of years uh in the country are also Omani citizens. We have about 7 million 700,000 Indians who are there who are remitting significantly and are working there in a very proud manner contributing to the development of the Omanis which is very much recognized. It is one of the few countries with which also we developed uh some kind of investment you know portfolio they have already invested about half a billion dollars in India. So we are also Indian companies are there about 6,000 odd companies are present. So this will definitely give a Phillip uh to the trade and investment both sides across the whole spectrum uh of bilateral engagement.

[00:11:01]>> Okay. So you've spoken about of course the uh deeper integration that SEPA will bring about and enhanced mobility provisions that have been created uh for professionals and uh which include engineers, the doctors uh not to forget the teachers. that human aspect is very important given the significant number of Indians that reside. uh professor let me come back to you on the potential that SEPA will provide uh for areas like technology and innovation partnerships because uh we we are seeing that increasingly our partnerships and especially the FDAs that we have signed with countries are more futuristic in nature and and we want to expand our cooperation in newer areas which revolve around these critical aspects critical areas of rare earth minerals of technology of innovation >> definitely Tina and whenever we uh sign any such kind of agreements with the like-minded nations uh a future road map is uh always stays not only in India's mind but uh in uh the other nations mind as well. When we look at Oman, the kind of dimensions that we have already touched with Oman in terms of collaboration including but not limiting to defense and uh security collaboration or trade relations or like from mobility's point of view uh technology is one uh such horizontal layer that touches upon all these verticals and that's where we are living into times wherein we can see that no technologies be it like artificial intelligence or when we look at the uh cyber technologies or space collaboration or when we take a deep dive into uh maritime cooperation uh both the nations have been maritime powers and that's where we have joined hands with the Oman so uh in this particular uh pillar which which spans about uh around our technological cooperation and uh promoting entrepreneurship and also promoting research development and manufacturing in the areas of technology technology. That's where both the countries have been focusing heavily on technology transfer, collaboration, joint production and also strengthening different types of supply chains especially in the area of defense and security domain and that's where we have also institutionalized different dialogues when it comes to science and technology collaboration between the two nations and we have also set up different types of technology cooperation committees uh between both the countries. So uh which can now identify and this agreement further you know uh strengthens such kind of dialogues uh committees institutionalization uh of this technology collaboration wherein both the nations can identify long-term uh frameworks also objectives also for co-developing advanced you know platforms promoting entrepreneurs promoting uh such professionals which can come up with the startups because that's what India keeps promoting and boosting you co-manufacturing also in all these different dimensions uh which are enabled by Nobi's uh technology >> there is a lot of potential that this agreement brings about in terms of uh uh benefiting uh uh of course uh the businesses on both sides but ambassador the big question then is how do both countries move forward from here the operationalization is done we know about the potential but in order uh for the businesses which include the MSMES is uh the startups uh that there will be a significant number of farmers also who will benefit provided they know about the potential that this holds. So how are both countries also uh working towards ensuring that the potential it trickles down the the information and the awareness about uh uh SEPA is provided to them in a timely manner so as to reap the maximum potential of this agreement.

[00:15:00]Well, absolutely. I mean, I think the experts can understand what is available and the headlines are the only ones that the people are able to follow that there is something like this agreement. Uh just about 2 hours ago we had at our chamber of commerce conference where we had invited the senior tax officers to discuss about this. They also discussed about free trade agreement and with Oman agreement how it's going to benefit. So this is how most of the Indian uh chambers of commerce and industry it is their job it is the job of the government to disseminate that all the agreements five or six agreements that the government has signed and operationalized how they are going to benefit us to to them for example in this one in the services sector Oman had more than 12 billion worth of services imports uh including the ICT sector and India only provides about 5 to 6% of that so you can imagine that there is a tremendous potential in that. So those are the things that will also and with the with the migration mobility being part of it we will also be able to overcome a little bit of urbanization that has started earlier. Uh that means that more Indian uh workers and the professionals can go and uh work there in various uh companies. Likewise, the Indian companies will also not only have to look for trade, uh those who are to wanting to expand further, they should look at it uh in this way. Uh secondly, if you know that wherever there is an FDA with a country especially like Oman, Seipa, the United States is the only other country that they have and there are some countries in the Gulf like I was ambassador to Jordan that also had it that provides you preferential access to the US market. So if you are going to set up some businesses in that uh in Oman for example uh in their special economic zones it provides you an additional market both in the gaft the the Gulf the bigger area as well as into the uh the western countries. So there are so many opportunities but it remains how we are going to use this uh through media through your channel as we are discussing now hopefully more people will see it and it'll be discussed I'm quite sure across various media but the focused approach in a simplified manner will have to be worked out perhaps by the commerce ministry or DGFT and will have to be shared at the grassroot level and with through the bind industry associations >> absolutely and especially when we are saying that the MSMES will be the earliest and the biggest beneficiaries of uh SEPA that has been signed between and which has been operationalized between India and Oman. Professor, what do you think? How can we integrate the startups and the MSMES into the opportunities uh that SEPA opens for them?

[00:17:45]Definitely Tina first and foremost we all should know as the ambassador has also mentioned through different uh you know uh media uh channels and uh different types of uh media people uh must uh be made aware that this agreement opens windows of immense opportunities for them as in a big market access is now provided to Indian entrepreneurs and that's where our Indian exporters are going to get duty-free access to 98% 99% of Oman's tariff lines. So this actually also allows a huge market access to uh Indian entrepreneurs exporters and by elimination duty duties of Indian exports crucial sectors are getting covered through this agreement like engineering, pharmaceutical, textiles, gems and jewelry, agriculture and so on.

[00:18:40]So uh entrepreneurs or exporters the uh youngsters belonging to these sectors and in fact there could be no sectors also from where the exporters can now access the markets of Oman. So that's where our people need to be made aware and uh secondly we also should not forget that this agreement also opens a a parallel line an alternative route for uh energy and fertilizer supplies through this agreement. Now because we have the strategic port connect with Oman's port uh and we have we have been allowed our navy has has been allowed over there uh we can bypass state of Ormus due to Oman's strategic location it it is located right on the mouth of Persian Gulf and that's where amid this regional conflict that is ongoing in West Asia. we have an an advantage of supply chain alternative right now wherein Oman's port can provide India with a vital economic gateway uh to like East Africa as well as West Asia bypassing state of Hormuz and that's where uh our exporters our people our vessels uh can take advantage of this agreement and when it comes to energy security we see that Oman remains a primary very important supplier of crude oil and LNG and ura for India. So that's where this particular pact also paves the way for joint energy initiatives wherein people can get involved uh right stakeholders can get involved and then Oman can serve as a crucial anchor for India's longtime supply diversification.

[00:20:17]So be it about Oman's market or like needs of uh needs from Indian energy securities point of view or like the kind of skilled profess professionals Oman needs or the kind of strategic support Oman needs from India that's where from both the sides we can now take another uh step to like take this uh uh agreement into actual actually operational mode and that is where both the countries be it like uh about elevating our economic and trade ties or like tweet about extending our exports or like extending our strategic and defense connect uh uh different exercises that we are having with the Oman at present or from like cultural and diaspora connects we have a lot to do Tina and that's where like from optics based all these you know clauses we will need to move on to achieve tangible outcomes uh from this you know that can be derived from this agreement >> absolutely and it is in this context uh that uh Union Minister P Goyel described India Oman SEPA as a force multip multiplier for India's engagement not just with Oman but uh with the Gulf region ambassador looking forward uh in your view what does what could this multiply force multiplier effect look like uh say 10 years down the line now it's been operationalized now we are talking about the potential we've also spoken about the sectors which are going to be the earliest and the biggest benefactors most importantly uh how they're going to help both sides. It's a win-win situation for India and Oman.

[00:21:48]But 10 years down the line, what kind of uh effect or what kind of impact could we see uh in context of the operationalization?

[00:21:57]>> Well, I think that it has already been operationalized yesterday and uh the this agreement and companies will start make taking benefit of it. As far as market access is concerned, several things have been done for the first time. I mean there were uh certain products which were uh you know drawing a duty of about 5 to 100%. And that have all been taken out of that perview. So therefore it bakes immediately uh very cheap. We are an agricultural country and we are exporting significantly and these are countries that are importing a great deal of agricultural products. So for example like whether it is honey, cashew, boneless meat and all that that's going to be much more cheaper for them as well as it's easier for the Indian companies to be able to export.

[00:22:41]So from that perspective there are a lot of opportunities uh that have been opened up. Now coming to 10 years time I would say that we are now going to probably clinch our uh trade agreement with Qatar and our we are continuing to discuss with GCC which I remember when I was in service at that time we had started off still it is the discussion good discussion going on. So both the our SEPA that we signed with the uh United Arab Emirates and the one that we have signed with Oman uh should provide a certain kind of a framework for concluding a larger GCC India GCC SEPA or FDA uh which will provide us much greater opportunity in an integrated market. Now that is something that's going to be extremely important going forward and since the policy of this government as far as West Asia is concerned has perhaps been the greatest success story uh of our foreign policy I'm quite sure that we are going to uh reap the benefits uh of these arrangements and especially Oman being our close strategic ancient partner.

[00:23:48]That's right, professor. As we wrap up the conversation, there's a new phase of partnership that India and Oman are entering. How do you envision this relationship evolving? uh we've already we we've spoken about the historical connect and now we think we are turning over a new leaf into our partnership which is going to be a model not just for this country but as ambassador said with the neighboring countries in the Gulf with our engagement in in the region as well uh and especially because of the geographical location Oman is the gateway uh to not just the Gulf but also East Africa. The question here is how do we realize this full potential the strategic advantage that this region gives to India in context of our reducing the dependency uh on the state of hormones and other countries which can in future become choke points and impact us further.

[00:24:40]Indeed Tina we have seen that how choking of state of Hormuz has already created uh many challenges for not only energy security but uh other types of you know uh trade also for the whole world for economies which have been devastated now and different countries are facing different types of challenges because of this uh only one you know this one incident. Uh so uh after this we have to uh understand that parallel routes uh need to be built up and such kind of strategic relationship and here we can bring in this agreement and strategic partnership with uh between India and Oman. Such kind of collaboration, cooperation not only mitigate the risks related to uh uh choke points but also they open another you know opportunities when we look at different other dimensions of cooperation spanning around trade relations or like cultural relations or uh uh mobility and so on or technology cooperation and so on. So when we talk about India, Oman cooperation, we have had civilizational connects with Oman and our maritime trade actually uh goes back to like ancient days and that's where we can see that this partnership is deeply rooted in age-old maritime trade cultural exchanges and the strong geopolitical alignment that both the countries have. So today we have this strategic partnership. We have further elevated this partnership with this comprehensive economic partnership agreement and that's where we can see that apart from elevating further strengthening our economic and trade ties Tina we also can now elevate our uh strategic and defense cooperation uh and we can also elevate our cultural and diaspora links and apart from our bilateral uh elevation of relationship uh when we look at the regional uh you know cooperation collaboration that's where now India stands tall as We already have similar kind of strategic relationship with countries like UAE.

[00:26:43]Now we have signed this agreement with Oman. And we should not forget that in the month of uh January Arab League nations were in New Delhi with whom we have signed a historic uh another you know trade and defense framework. So that's where uh such kind of engagements provide us an opportunity to take this message of vasudhayakam to the entire world where wherein we can share uh you know our policy of resolving the conflicts and promoting economic and other kind of prosperities and growth. That's right. Was Kutumukum has been one of the strongest pillars of uh India's foreign policy under Prime Minister Modi and as uh we've discussed the operationalization of India, Oman, SEPA, uh it does strengthen our trade and investment relations at the same time it helps us enhance uh uh connectivity, integrate supply chains and especially in this crucial geopolitical context uh involving state of hormones which has impacted countries like India that are energy dependent. It it does open a whole lot of potential and opportunities. Uh but the key uh uh impact will only be visible once uh uh it becomes fully operational and in terms of uh measuring uh the benefits that it provides to businesses across both sides. Uh time allows us to take up only that much of the program. Once again, thank you ambassador and professor for joining us and sharing your insights with us and our viewers.

[00:28:07]Uh to you viewers, thank you very much for your time as well.

[00:28:11]Heat.

[00:28:19][music] Heat.

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