Oman strengthens defence ties with UK

The government of the Sultanate of Oman has ratified the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the British government in the field of defence, approving amendments made on 17 May.

The Oman News Agency said yesterday that Sultan Qaboos Bin Said issued Royal Decree No. 46/2016 for the ratification of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed in May to strengthen cooperation in the field of defence between the Omani and the UK governments.

The MoU entails strengthening bilateral defence cooperation and raising the frequency of joint military exercises in Oman, as Britain plans to increase the number of military training teams that it sends to the sultanate annually from 34 to 45 teams in order to increase short-term exercises.

In May, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: “This training uplift underlines the commitment we made in our Strategic Defence and Security Review to increase our partnerships in the Gulf region.”

“Oman is our friend. We are working more closely than ever with them across military, counter-terrorism and intelligence fields to tackle shared threats to stability.”