Oman, India to cooperate in archives field
Muscat - The sultanate’s National Records and Archives Authority (NRAA) and National Archives of India have finalised an executive programme of cooperation, which will be submitted for approval by competent authorities of both parties and formally signed in the near future.
The cooperation was finalised during a visit of a delegation of National Archives of India (NAI), led by Arun Singal, Director General of Archives, on February 21 and 22, to explore areas of collaboration in archival work.
Activities agreed upon and featured in the proposed cooperation include organising a joint exhibition of curated materials from both archives alongside a conference highlighting the historical relations between India and Oman; exchanging digital copies of documents that hold mutual interest to enrich both collections; facilitating a framework for exchange programmes involving experts in the fields of digitisation and preservation to share knowledge on best practices of both institutions; and releasing a joint publication based on curated archival materials from both archives.
During discussions with Dr Hamad Mohammed al Dhawyani, Chairman of NRAA, Singhal spoke on the historical ties between India and Oman and informed the former about the existence of a large number of records pertaining to Oman in NAI and other repositories of India.
As a gesture of goodwill, Singhal handed over a list of 70 select documents related to
Oman that are available in NAI covering the period from 1793 to 1953 and dealing with a wide range of subjects.
Additionally, 523 pages of copies of records were also handed over to Dhawyani on important subjects, including change of the Omani flag from red to white (1868); succession of Sayyid Faisal bin Turki as ruler of Oman after the death of Sultan Sayyid Turki (1888); an official visit of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman to the Viceroy in India (1937); and the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the Republic of India and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman signed on March 15, 1953 in Muscat (English, Hindi and Arabic versions).
Facsimile prints of three important treaties between the two countries were also gifted to NRAA - treaty between the British India Government and the Sultan of Muscat (in Arabic and English), dated April 5, 1865; and two treaties concluded with the Imam of Muscat: one by Mehdi Ali Khan, dated October 12, 1798, and another by Sir John Malcolm, in his capacity as Envoy of the Governor General of India to the Court of Persia, dated January 18, 1800.