Fake anti-India tweet on behalf of Omani royalty: Growing trend to play spoilsport in Gulf

NEW DELHI: An anti-India tweet by a member of the Omani Royalty, which later turned out to be originating from a fake handle, symbolises a growing trend in the Gulf where numerous such accounts are existing with an aim to create a wedge between the region and Delhi

A fake tweet was circulated quoting Mona bint Fahad Assistant Vice Chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University for International relations and daughter of Oman’s Deputy PM Sayyid Fahd that if Indian government does not stop persecution of Indian Muslims then one million Indians in Oman may be expelled. The tweet was from a handle @SayyidaMona.



ET has reliably learnt that no such twitter handle exists representing Mona bint Fahad. She also clarified the same.

“Friends, First of all I thank you for your concern to verify the offensive post published through an account impersonating me, which you are sure that I have no connection with it. With full trust in all of you in strengthening awareness among all regarding such activities, which are not acceptable to the Omani society, I confirm again that my presence in social media is restricted on the following accounts: @hhmonaalsaid and @MonaFahad 13,” Mona bint Fahd said in a statement.

ET has reliably learnt that such fake twitter handles have sprung up across the Gulf allegedly at the behest of a foreign security agency with an aim to drive wedge between India and the region and their growing strategic partnership including during the current crisis.

Indian Ambassador to Oman Manu Mahawar tweeted, “I thank HH @MonaFahad13 for clarification on fake social media posts attributed to her. India values its friendly relations with Oman and will continue working closely with the Government and people of Oman to further strengthen our special relationship.”

“The friendly relations between India and Oman are underpinned by our shared values of tolerance and pluralism. Let us all commit to maintaining unity and social harmony at this critical juncture. As PM @narendramodi said: We are in this together. In these challenging times, it is important that we stay focused and united in our fight against COVID-19, and not get distracted by fake news on social media with malicious intention,” the Embassy in Muscat had tweeted.

Oman is India’s oldest strategic partner in the Gulf. It may be recalled that last January India declared national mourning for deceased Sultan Qaboos bin said Al Said, one of Delhi's closest partners in West Asia for decades sharing special bonds with this country. Qaboos chief architect of Indo-Oman strategic partnership including access for Indian Navy at Duqm Port had a special connect with India having studied in Pune under Shankar Dayal Sharma who later became India's President. When Sharma visited Muscat in 1996 as the President Qaboos arranged a grand welcome for him breaking protocol. “While other Gulf Arabs prefer to get on a camel and go west into the Arab desert, Omanis prefer to be on a boat and drift towards India,” Sultan Qaboos had once observed.

In 2018 during Modi's visit to Muscat Qaboos made special gesture of sending breakfast made in Palace for the PM at the hotel where he stayed. Omani Royal family has a special connect with India. Sultan Qaboos’s grandfather once ruled Oman from India in early decades of the last century and has been buried in Mumbai. Qaboos who was passed away on Friday was extremely generous towards the Indian community. Qaboos father too had an India connect and was an alumnus of Mayo College. He took personal interest in two temples in Muscat and gave Omani citizenship to nearly 1,000 Hindus. Oman under Qaboos emerged as India’s first strategic partner in West Asia.

Under Qaboos India and Oman developed a defence partnership with Delhi supplying rifles for the Sultanate's security. Last December India and Oman signed a Maritime Transport Agreement during the visit of foreign minister S Jaishankar to the Sultanate last month. The pact – the first with any Gulf country – enables India to expand its footprint in the Western & Southern Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and east Africa as part of Indo-Pacific vision.

The Port of Duqm SEZ, which is earmarked to be the Indian Ocean’s largest deep-sea port, is where an Indo-Oman joint venture, Sebacic Oman, is undertaking a $1.2 billion project to set up the largest sebacic acid plant in the Middle-East.

An agreement to develop Little India, an integrated tourism complex project in Duqm worth $748 million, has been signed between the two countries. Oman’s sea ports and industrial hubs established along its 1,700 km coast on the Indian Ocean makes it an ideal home for international businesses