India, Oman agree to cooperate in field of archives: Cultural Ministry

ndia and Oman have “agreed to cooperate” in the field of archives during a visit by a delegation of the National Archives of India to the Gulf country on February 21-22, the Culture Ministry said on Friday.

In a statement, the ministry said a draft on cooperation was “discussed and agreed upon”.

It said the members of the Indian delegation, led by NAI Director General Arun Singhal, were shown around various sections and divisions of the National Records and Archives Authority (NRAA) of Oman.

The purpose of the visit was to explore the areas of bilateral cooperation in the archival field, it said.

In bilateral discussions with NRAA chairman Hamad Mohammed Al-Dhawyani, Singhal dwelt upon the historical ties between India and Oman and informed him about the existence of a large number of records pertaining to Oman in the NAI as well as in other repositories of India, NAI officials said.

As a gesture of goodwill, Singhal handed over “a list of 70 select documents pertaining to Oman” that are available in the NAI in Delhi. These documents cover a period from 1793 to 1953 and deal with a wide range of subjects, they said.

Also, 523 pages of copies of records were handed over to the NRAA chairman, covering several important subjects. In addition, facsimile prints of three important treaties between the two countries were gifted to the NRAA.