Coll 5/33(2) ‘AIR ROUTE TO INDIA: MUSCAT CIVIL AIR AGREEMENT (NEGOTIATIONS FOR NEW AGREEMENT)’ [‎152r] (303/1089)

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The file contains correspondence and notes related to negotiations between the British Government and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd, for a new Civil Air Agreement; Britain's aviation rights in Oman during the Second World War (1939-1945) had depended on a War Subsidy agreement with the Sultan, which expired at the end of 1946. It therefore contains supplementary correspondence determining British civil and military aviation requirements in Oman; the focus of discussion being the airfields at Gwadur [Gwadar], Masirah, Riyan, and Salalah. In the process the file documents a decision to use the Civil Air Agreement as cover for Royal Air Force (RAF) requirements, British civil requirements being minimal. Draft copies of the Muscat Civil Air Agreement can be found on folios 196-212 and 344-362, while the text of the final agreement – signed in 1947 – can be found on folios 158-176.

Two copies of the International Civil Aviation Conference: Final Act with appendices have been included in the file as a result of discussion over the extent that the Muscat Civil Air Agreement should be along the lines of the Chicago Air Convention.

Two additional topics are covered as a result of commitments made to the Sultan of Muscat as part of negotiations for the Civil Air Agreement: the supply of weapons and ammunition to the Sultan by the British Government, and the procurement of motor vehicles (lorries and tractors) of British manufacture for purchase by the Sultan. The latter commitment was in lieu of supplying the Sultan with US dollars for purchasing vehicles directly from the United States. Some correspondence with the Ford Motor Company Limited at Dagenham, Essex, has been included in relation to the purchase of tractors. Details of vehicle specifications can be found amongst the correspondence.

The file also includes communications between Air Headquarters (Iraq), Air Headquarters (Aden), and the Air Ministry, in December 1946 discussing the feasibility of measures suggested by the latter to reduce the maintenance costs of local airfields: Masirah, Riyan, and Salalah.

The main correspondents are as follows: the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Charles Geoffry Prior, William Rupert Hay, and Arnold Crawshaw Galloway), the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. and Consul at Muscat (Andrew Charles Stewart), officials of the Air Ministry, officials of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. (the Commonwealth Relations Office from August 1947), officials of the Ministry for Civil Aviation (M W Low), officials of the Ministry of Supply, officials of the War Office, and officials of the External Affairs Department for the Government of India.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format

1 file (543 folios)

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 544; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in

English in Latin script

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