New DElhi, DEc 10 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Muscat, Oman, is scheduled for December 17–18, 2025, as part of a three-nation tour that includes Jordan and Ethiopia and is likely to begin on December 15.
The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral trade, deepening economic partnerships and expanding strategic cooperation across key sectors.
Oman and Iraq were the only nations that openly supported India during the 1971 war with Pakistan, and that historical goodwill continues to underpin the relationship.
A major focus of the visit will be the finalisation and signing of the long-pending India–Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
The agreement seeks to resolve long-standing issues such as Oman’s localisation policies and India’s concerns over third-country routing of goods. Once concluded, CEPA is expected to significantly expand the existing annual bilateral trade of around USD12 billion, which is currently driven by India’s crude oil imports and its exports of petroleum products, foodstuffs and manufactured goods. The agreement will also reinforce the economic ecosystem that supports over 676,000 Indian expatriates living and working in Oman, one of the most stable Indian communities in the Gulf region.
During the visit, both sides are expected to review their cooperation in energy, defence and security. This includes ongoing joint military exercises, India’s access to Oman’s strategically important Duqm port and broader maritime collaboration that has become increasingly significant amid shifting geopolitical currents in the Gulf.
The visit also coincides with 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations and fits into India’s wider outreach to West Asia, which includes connectivity initiatives such as IMEC and diplomatic efforts to help maintain stability at a time when Gaza and the broader region are engulfed in continuing conflict.
High-level political trust has been reinforced in recent years, most notably through Sultan Haitham bin Tariq’s 2023 visit to India, which helped energise cooperation in counter-terrorism, economic development and investment flows. With preparations now centred on enhancing two-way investments and strengthening the welfare framework for the large Indian diaspora, the Prime Minister's visit being viewed as a potential milestone in the next phase of India–Oman ties.
India’s engagement with Ethiopia during the same tour carries its own historical depth and contemporary significance. Relations between the two countries can be traced back nearly 2,000 years, with records of ancient trade in spices, gold and ivory through the port of Adulis in the 6th century AD.
In Addis Ababa, Prime Minister Modi is expected to hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who played a pivotal role in ending Ethiopia’s long-standing border conflict with Eritrea. The two leaders last met on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in 2023, where discussions covered diverse areas including trade, investment, defence, information technology, agriculture, youth skilling and people-to-people exchanges.
With both India and Ethiopia now part of the expanded BRICS grouping, the upcoming visit is expected to help revive momentum for the long-delayed fourth India–Africa Forum Summit. The last such summit was held in Delhi in 2015, and the earlier edition in 2011 took place in Ethiopia itself.
Modi's likely visit to Jordan is expected to further strengthen the strategic and multifaceted ties that have been steadily built since his transit visit to Amman in February 2018, when he was personally received by HM King Abdullah II at his private residence.
Over the years, the two countries have developed a robust partnership encompassing defense cooperation, counter-terrorism, trade, investment, energy, and cultural exchange, with India emerging as Jordan’s fourth-largest trading partner and a key investor in sectors such as phosphates and textiles.
The upcoming visit is expected to reaffirm India’s commitment to regional security, capacity building, and economic collaboration while exploring new areas including renewable energy, information technology, and healthcare.
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