British-Omani ties ‘unshakable’
Visitors to the conference organised by the National Record and Archives Authority will have a chance to explore the historic ties between Oman and Britain
Times News Service
MUSCAT: “Britain’s relationship with Oman is unshakable,” Alistair Burt, Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said on Monday.
This came during the opening of the 7th International Conference of the National Record and Archives Authority, where visitors will have a chance to explore cooperation between Oman and Britain.
The conference was inaugurated by His Highness Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture.
The conference and exhibition, slated to run between October 8 and October 10 will explore Oman’s relations with the western country.
An official of the conference on Omani-British relations said that it will look at 52 topics, including “James Wellsted’s Journeys to Oman” during the 19th century, as well as “The First British-Omani Treaty signed in Sohar in 1646” .
Speaking about present relations, the minister added, “Yesterday, I spent most of my day with my counterpart Sayyid Bader, setting the agenda for the period ahead. We covered economics, education, and regional defence.”
According to him, Britain has a 3 billion pounds export cover, with Oman being one of the country’s biggest export partners. Oman sends more students to the UK than any other country.
Burt said, “Saif Sareea 3 is the largest joint training exercise we’ve done anywhere in the last 17 years, and the last one was SS2.”
Named Al Shomoukh 2 and Saif Saree 3 (Arabic for Swift Sword), the joint-military operations between Oman and the UK, are expected to run until November and will involve 70,000 Omani and 5,500 UK personnel.
The two exercises are being described as “the largest in the history of the Sultan’s Armed Forces”.
Al Shomoukh 2 is being carried out by the Sultanate’s Royal Armed Forces, other departments of the Ministry of Defence and the military, along with security forces.
The exercise will immediately be followed by the joint OmaniBritish military exercise, Saif Saree 3, which will continue until the end of October.