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After much hullabaloo that an Islamic nation had invited Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Sultanate of Oman on Friday clarified that it has not invited Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to the Republic and that his visit is being organized by a Dutch company and this private visit “has no relation with the Government of the Republic of Oman”.
The Gujarat Government and Chief Minister Modi’s office remain tightlipped about the twist in the tale. On conditions of anonymity, one senior Gujarat Government official said Mr Modi had no plans to visit Oman in the near future and that the Oman visit was a media creation. Another officer claimed that this official rejection to Mr Modi by the Oman government is an insult that should not be tolerated.
A few weeks ago, a nine member high level delegation led by a senior Omani minister had called upon Mr Modi in Gujarat and media reports had quoted an official in the Chief Ministers Office saying that Mr Modi had accepted an invitation from Oman’s commerce Miniter Maqbool Ali Sultan to discuss trade relations and building a port on the Gujarat coast.
Thereafter there were reports suggesting that Mr Modi was likely to lead a business delegation to Oman later this year to discuss developing a port in the state with the Gulf nation’s assistance,.
Media reports had claimed that Mr Modi had accepted the invitation to visit Sohar port and free trade zone in Oman. Following this, human rights activists besides known Muslims had been requesting the Oman government to ensure that it does not allow Mr Modi to enter the Republic. One such petition submitted to the Oman embassy in New Delhi a few weeks ago by Najid Hussain, Mirza A.Beg
Zafar Iqbal,Tariq Farooqi,Fazal R. Khan and others had emphasized that Mr Modi had “presided over and orchestrated widespread riots in Gujarat in which 2000 hapless Muslims had been massacred”.
Citing that the US and many countries in Europe has banned his entry, by denying him visa, various petitions had urged that Mr Modi should not be invited by the Oman Government as a “ as a mark of respect for humane values enshrined in all religions and the declaration of universal human rights under the UN Charter.”
When the delegation had visited, the visit was being played up as how even Muslim nations had faith in Mr Modi and his leadership and were keen to strike a business alliance with him. In January this year, Chiarman of Oman’s Chamber of Commerce an industry Khalil bin Abdullah al Khun had attended the vibrant Gujarat celebrations and had reportedly sought co operation from Mr Modi about petroleum,petrochemicals and aluminium industries in Gujarat with tie ups specially catering to SMEs’.
However, the new found friendship with Oman suffered a set back with the Oman embassy issuing an advertisement clearly stating that Mr Modi has been invited by the Dutch Norterdam Company which has projects in Sohar in Oman. The Oman government specified that Mr Modi is going to be the Dutch company’s guest and the Government has no relation to this visit.
It must be noted that last month, a Financial Times’ publication fDi had decided to confer an award to Mr Modi but it later decided that the award would be given to the State of Gujarat and not Mr Modi since “his alleged role in the (2002) riots is under investigation”. The magazine said the award was in recognition of Gujarat’s ability to attract an outstanding volume of inward foreign investment.
“Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time of the riots. His alleged role in connection to the riots is under investigation, but he denies any responsibility,” the magazine had said in a statement which said that the award would therefore be given to the State and not to the Chief minister because of ongoing investigations against him.
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