Indian Air Forces Planes in Muscat Oman

[Arsalan]

hello guys. was curious about the reason on Indian Air force presence in Oman. There are no exercises going on so why are there IAF planes parked in Oman.

saw them during a visit a a week back.

these are IAF Antonov An-32 on Muscat airport Tarmac.

 

[Jango]

Going to Muscat tomorrow, will keep a lookout for them!!!

Where are they parked?

Near the royal flight hangar or civil aviation terminal?

 

[Gandalf]

India exports ammo to Oman.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

hello guys. was curious about the reason on Indian Air force presence in Oman. There are no exercises going on so why are there IAF planes parked in Oman.

saw them during a visit a a week back.

these are IAF Antonov An-32 on Muscat airport Tarmac.

Could be any reason; not necessarily related to Exercises. Could be a Courier Flight, IAF aircraft are used for sensitive Diplomatic Courier flights. Or could be an aircraft returning from Kiev after the UPG. Could be anything.

 

[jaibi]

It's interesting, I shall too read about this though India enjoys good relations with the Arab world.

 

[Roybot]

En route from Kiev most probably.

 

[Star Wars]

If anyone is heading there , pics would be welcome

 

[arp2041]

hello guys. was curious about the reason on Indian Air force presence in Oman. There are no exercises going on so why are there IAF planes parked in Oman.

saw them during a visit a a week back.

these are IAF Antonov An-32 on Muscat airport Tarmac.

Sir, Oman has long history of military relations with India:

India and Oman signed a military protocol in 1972, which led to a three- year deputation of Indian Navy personnel to man Oman’s Navy in 1973. A MoU on defence cooperation was signed between India and Oman in 2005. Areas of cooperation include joint military exercises, military training and IT, educational courses and programmes, exchange of observers and formal visits. Currently, a two-tier arrangement for defence cooperation – Joint Military Cooperation Committee (JMCC) and Air Force-to-Air Force Staff Talks (AFST) - exists with Oman.

India's Defence Diplomacy in the Gulf | Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

In Fact, IN has berthing rights there as well as air station.

But not sure what IAF planes were doing there.

 

[GoodBoy]

hello guys. was curious about the reason on Indian Air force presence in Oman. There are no exercises going on so why are there IAF planes parked in Oman.

saw them during a visit a a week back.

these are IAF Antonov An-32 on Muscat airport Tarmac.

Can we see some conspiracy theories now?

 

[GoodBoy]

double post deleted

 

[SwatCat]

Defence cooperation

Oman is the first Gulf nation to have formalised defence relations with India. Following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Oman in 2008, defence cooperation between the two countries was further stepped up. The Indian Navy has been utilising Oman's ports as bases for conducting anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. The Indian Air Force has also been holding biannual joint exercises with the Royal Air Force of Oman since 2009

India

 

[RISING SUN]

Defence Secy on Oman visit
Seeking closer military ties with Oman, Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma is on a two-day visit to the Gulf country.

During the visit, Sharma met the top military and political leadership of Oman and discussed ways of further strengthening the military relations between the two sides, Defence Ministry officials said here.

The visit assumes significance in view of efforts on part of both the countries to strengthen their defence ties as Defence Minister A K Antony had travelled to Muscat couple of years ago and his counterpart visited here in 2011.
The two sides had also decided to expand cooperation in fields ranging from maritime security and anti-piracy measures to joint training and combat exercises.

The air forces of India and Oman have also held two rounds of Exercise Eastern Bridge of which the second edition was held at Jamnagar air base at Gujarat in 2011 involving their Jaguar deep penetration strike fighter aircraft.

The two air forces are among the main users of the twin- engine Anglo-French warplane.

Both also operate British-made Hawk advanced jet trainer and follow similar training procedures. RAFO fighter pilots have also been training at the Jaguar’s stimulator training centre in Gorakhpur.

Oman is geographically India’s closest ally among the Arab countries in the strategically vital Persian Gulf region.
Defence Secy on Oman visit | Business Standard

 

[Arsalan]

Could be any reason; not necessarily related to Exercises. Could be a Courier Flight, IAF aircraft are used for sensitive Diplomatic Courier flights. Or could be an aircraft returning from Kiev after the UPG. Could be anything.

10 AN-32 employed for some courier service??
its not even mango season..

might be some ammo or something else.

 

[Capt.Popeye]

10 AN-32 employed for some courier service??
its not even mango season..

might be some ammo or something else.

HeHeHe, then it may be just Mangos or just picking up the choicest Omani Khajoors!
10 An-32s, lots of Mangos or Khajoors.

 

[sancho]

10 AN-32 employed for some courier service??
its not even mango season..

might be some ammo or something else.

Mh, 10 is indeed a rather high and unusual number, especially if transports would be the only reasons, since IAF simply could have used an IL 76 for transport reasons. Could be an army exercise with paratroopers?