Muscat [Oman], October 3 (ANI): Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan, who is on a two-day visit to Oman, inaugurated a newly designed library with an aim to provide knowledge resources to the readers, at the Embassy of India in Oman on Monday.

MoS Muraleedharan arrived in the capital city of Oman, Muscat on Monday for a two-day visit to deepen ties between both nations.

Taking a tweet, MoS Muraleedharan said, "A library is where ideas sleep between covers, waiting for discovery. Inaugurated the newly designed library at the Embassy of India in Oman. The library with over 1000 books on diverse subjects ranging from history to philosophy to international relations, will be resourceful for readers."The Minister's visit is taking place with an aim to deepen the political engagement between both countries as he looks forward to holding discussions with Omani leadership and interact with the diverse cross-section of our diaspora.

As per a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, the Union Minister will be in Oman from October 3-4. This will be his second visit to Oman and a part of the periodic exchange of high-level visits to reinforce the shared commitment to an "ever-growing" relationship between both countries.

Muraleedharan, during his visit, will meet the Foreign Minister of the Sultanate of Oman, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi, and other senior dignitaries and engage in discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.

He will participate in a community reception and interact with a wide cross-section of the Indian community in Oman, particularly those in the health, education, business, and social service sectors, as per the statement.

As per the Embassy of India in Oman, there are about 624,000 Indians in Oman, of which about 4,83,901 are workers and professionals, as of May 2021. There are Indian families living in Oman for more than 150-200 years. Moreover, the two countries hold strong economic, commercial and cultural ties.

The Union Minister last visited Oman on 15-17 December 2020. Besides, there has been sustained and frequent exchange of high-level visits between both countries. In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited Oman, while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Oman in 2019.

In recent months, Foreign Minister of Oman Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi visited India in March 2022, and Qais bin Mohammed al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion visited India in May 2022.

India and Oman share warm and friendly relations underpinned by historical and cultural linkages and strong people-to-people ties. As per the MEA statement, the visit will provide an opportunity to comprehensively review the state of bilateral relations between India and Oman and to chart pathways to further deepen and strengthen them. (ANI)