'File 35/86 V A. 77 Muscat Commercial Treaty' [‎51r] (116/442)

wish to turn them out. But difficulty might arise when a
trader wished to go to some other place in his territory
which Indian traders did not frequent; he might not be in
a position to protect such persons and yet would be held
responsible by His Majesty*s GoYernment if anything happened
to them. After much discussion he said he would not object
If an arrangement was made by which an Indian trader, wishing
to move to some other place in Oman, should be required to
inform the local authorities, who might in certain cases
think fit to notify him that owing to conditions of insecurity
the place proposed to be visited was unsafe, and if it was
understood that no responsibility for the person's safety
attached to the Sultan's Government if, notwithstanding the
notification, he should proceed to carry out his proposed
visit. The Sultan drew attention to the phrase regarding
the conditions and regulations applicable to his nationals
when visiting the territories of His Majesty and claimed
that he should not be denied any right of controlling the
movements of British subjects within his territory, where
conditions were much more insecure.
(2) and (3): Hig Highness complained, almost bitterly,
that these paragraphs about monopolies would leave him no
free hand. He was not interested in an offer to make them
reciprocal, as he had no trading interests likely to be
affected by British monopolies. Only about a third of
Muscat trade was in the hands of British Indian traders. His
own people would therefore be proportionately more affected
than British subjects by the creation of monopolies. He
was, however, very anxious to avoid disturbing trade; on the
contrary he wished to see trade between India and Muscat
increase. It was represented to him that by the present
draft His Majesty's Government were making a considerable
advance/