Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly will have a meeting with Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said on Sunday evening. Interestingly, Oman’s Sultan Qaboos was once a student under Shankar Dayal Sharma, who went on to become the President of India.
Moreover, Sultan Qaboos’s father was an alumnus of Ajmer’s Mayo College and so he sent his son to study in Pune for some time; even he was former President Shankar Dayal Sharma’s student. He completed a part of his early education from a private institution in Pune.
“He has very fond memories from his student days…and that is the reason he has been very generous towards the Indian community and India’s requests for help. That is expected to be acknowledged during the visit,” an Indian diplomat said to The Indian Express from Muscat.
It is expected that Modi would tap into the “personal connect” of Oman’s Sultan and he is also scheduled to visit a 250-year-old Shiva temple in Muscat. PM Modi will meet Sultan Qaboos at Bait Al Barakah Royal Palace for a special dinner where the two leaders will review bilateral cooperation. Both leaders are expected to recognize new areas of cooperation and exchange views on the regional situation in South Asia and West Asia regions, including the Gulf. They are also expected to exchange views on global issues of mutual interest.
Sultan Qaboos had also played a vital role in the liberation of Father Tom Uzhunnalil, the Vatican priest who was abducted in Yemen in March 2016 and released in September 2017. Sultan Qaboos was reportedly in constant touch with parties from Yemen as well as the Ministry of External Affairs during the negotiations. The Sultan has in the past intervened to get other hostages released.
A major highlight of Modi’s visit will be an address at an Indian community programme at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Oman.