Oman Foreign Minister to visit India

New Delhi: Omani Foreign Affairs Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah will visit India on April 2-3 the invitation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, it was announced on Thursday.

"India's close and friendly relations with Oman are based on historical people to people contacts and are marked by regular exchange of high-level bilateral visits," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement. 

"Oman is an important trading partner of India in the Gulf region with bilateral trade exceeding $3.86 billion in 2015-16," it said. 

There are around 688,000 expatriate Indians in Oman. 

The Omani minister earlier visited India in February and June 2014. Sushma Swaraj paid a return visit to Oman in February 2015. 

"During the forthcoming visit, the two sides would discuss bilateral, regional and other issues of mutual interest," the statement said.