Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi Arrives in Pakistan for 8th Joint Ministerial Commission

Islamabad, Oct 13, 2026 — Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi arrives in Pakistan today on a two-day official visit (October 13–14), during which the two countries will hold the eighth session of the Pakistan-Oman Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) in Islamabad. The visit is taking place at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the Foreign Office said on Monday.

The JMC session, co-chaired by the foreign ministers of both countries, is the highest bilateral forum between Pakistan and Oman. According to the Foreign Office, it will provide an important platform to review the entire spectrum of Pakistan-Oman bilateral relations and to further strengthen cooperation in diverse fields. Albusaidi is also expected to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his stay.

What is on the agenda

Dar chaired an inter-ministerial meeting in Islamabad on Monday to review preparations for the JMC session, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. The meeting discussed the agenda and proposed bilateral agreements, and Dar directed the relevant stakeholders to ensure comprehensive preparations and effective follow-up so the session delivers tangible outcomes.

The discussions are expected to cover a wide range of sectors:

• Trade and investment
• Industry and agriculture
• Finance, oil and gas
• Labour and consular affairs
• Security and defence
• Climate change, civil aviation, education, media and culture

Why the visit matters

Oman sits across the Arabian Sea from Pakistan’s Gwadar coast, and the two countries share some of the oldest maritime links in the region — Pakistani labour has powered Oman’s economy for decades, and Omani ports remain a natural gateway for Pakistan’s Gulf trade. The eighth JMC session comes at a time when Pakistan is actively courting Gulf investment under its broader economic reset; earlier this month the finance minister told Reuters the country expects to raise over $1 billion from privatisation and is pitching for deeper trade ties.

Describing the visit as a reflection of the longstanding fraternal ties between Pakistan and Oman, the Foreign Office expressed confidence that the engagement would deepen mutually beneficial cooperation across several sectors. Any agreements or memorandums signed at the JMC will be announced after the co-chaired session concludes.

A decades-old relationship across the Arabian Sea

Pakistan and Oman’s ties go back to the earliest days of Pakistan’s independence. Geographically, the two countries face each other across the Arabian Sea, with Oman’s port of Salalah lying just a few hundred nautical miles from Pakistan’s Makran coast. For generations, Pakistani fishermen, sailors and labourers have worked in Oman, and today hundreds of thousands of Pakistani expatriates live and work in the sultanate, sending home remittances that matter to both economies.

Defence and security cooperation is another longstanding pillar — the two navies hold regular joint exercises, and Pakistan’s military training institutions have hosted Omani cadets for decades. The JMC mechanism has met seven times before, and officials on both sides describe it as the workhorse of the relationship: the place where trade targets get set, labour agreements get updated, and cultural exchanges get planned.

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