India, Dec. 18 -- India and Oman inked a free trade deal on Thursday that provides zero-duty access for Indian goods in 98.08% of Oman's tariff lines, opens up avenues for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and labour-intensive sectors, and protects the mobility of Indian professionals, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling on Omani businesses to benefit from India's growth.

Oman is one of India's closest strategic partners in West Asia - it is the only Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member with which New Delhi conducts tri-services joint exercises - and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), signed by commerce minister Piyush Goyal and his Omani counterpart Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef, will help ramp up t...