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11th India-Oman Joint Military Cooperation Committee Meeting was held in New Delhi to enhance bilateral defence collaboration.

About JMCC: 

• The Joint Military Cooperation Committee (JMCC) acts as the apex body between the ministries of India and Oman. 
• This committee reviews the India-Oman relationship through meetings held annually.
• This body reviews and guides all areas of bilateral defence cooperation. 
• The JMCC has agreed to initiate a series of high-level defence engagements between the two countries. 
• The 11th meeting of JMCC was co-chaired by the Defence Secretary of India and the Secretary-General of Defence, Oman. 

India-Oman Defence Cooperation:

• Oman is India’s closest defence partner in the Gulf region.
• Naseem al Bahr is a biennial maritime exercise between the two countries involving the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy of Oman.
• The naval forces of both countries signed an MoU on the exchange of white shipping information. This will enable information exchange on merchant shipping traffic through an Information Fusion Centre in Gurugram along with the dissemination of data with partner countries maintaining the safety and security of the Indian Ocean Region.
• Besides, the port of Duqm in Oman has offered facilities to the Indian Navy through two critical MoUs ensuring maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean Region.
• Oman provides critical operational support to Indian naval deployments in the Arabian sea for anti-piracy missions.