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Coll 5/33(2) ‘AIR ROUTE TO INDIA: MUSCAT CIVIL AIR AGREEMENT (NEGOTIATIONS FOR NEW AGREEMENT)’ [192r] (383/1089)
The record is made up of 1 file (543 folios). It was created in 7 Mar 1945-2 Nov 1948. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
secr et.
No.C 204-2/40
F7 POLITICAL
AGENCY
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
, MUSCAT,
/ ^ | i (camp) Salalah,
" Dated 21st March , 1947.
Derr Colonel Hay,
I arrived in Salalah on the 14th of March and comraenced dis
cussions with the Sultan on the basis of the drafts forwarded to 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.
with your Express Letter No.ll72-S, dated the 19th De
cember, 1946, amended so as to incorporate additions and alterations
proposed up to the receipt of
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.
telegram No.3153, dated
the 8th March , 1947. After five days of almost continuous discussions
with the Sultan, he has agreed to accept the draft forms of agreement
which I enclose with this letter. For facility of reference I attach
Appendix •A* showing (a) the amendments made from time to time in
accordance with instructions received from you and 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.
and (b) the amendments and additions Insisted upon by the Sultan in
our present discussions. I have disputed for many hours the amend
ments proposed by the Sultan and the ones now incorporated in the
draft attached are those on which I have not been able to persuade
him to give say. There were many other amendments he wished to
make which he has finally conceded to me in our discussions. I do
not feel that I should have any success in disputing the remaining
points on which he now insists and in view of the fact that he is
granting to us all our demands for pounds sterling 6000, I recommend
that these amendments and the a dditional assurances enumerated in
para 2 below should be conceded.
2. The Sultan raised the following new points in our discussions!
(a) He wished assurances that if the numbers of Royal Air
Force personnel permanent and in transit are to be increased as
proposed, there should always be reasonably senior officers in
charge of the bases at Masirah and Salalah and that these officers
should each be provided with an efficient interpreter.
(b) He stipulated that the camp area in Salalah should for
purpose oi its own security be enclosed in wire fence.
(c) After the expiry of the agreement, all permanent buildings
should revert to the Sultan free of charge.
(d) Buildings will be maintained in reasonable condition by
the ^oyal Air Force.
(e) As long as Masirah is maintained, we will agree to main
tain at least minimum facilities at Salalah.
(f) Numbers of R.A.F. personnel visiting the town and basaar
areas at any one time shall be restricted.
(g) In each of the seven years dT the Agreement, the Sultan
shall be supplied with 10,000 rounds S.A.A. on payment.
(h) As Masirah develops, it will be necessary for the Sultan
(both in his interest and ours) to send a representAtive for periodic
inspection of the island. The Royal Air Force should whenever pos
sible supply transport.
to
The Hon'ble Lt. Col. W.R. Bay, C.S.I., C.I.E.,
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.
,
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
,
BAHRAIN.
/'-S
About this item
- Content
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 View the complete information for this record
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Coll 5/33(2) ‘AIR ROUTE TO INDIA: MUSCAT CIVIL AIR AGREEMENT (NEGOTIATIONS FOR NEW AGREEMENT)’ [192r] (383/1089), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/1985, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100060249766.0x0000b8> [accessed 23 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/1985
- Title
- Coll 5/33(2) ‘AIR ROUTE TO INDIA: MUSCAT CIVIL AIR AGREEMENT (NEGOTIATIONS FOR NEW AGREEMENT)’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:27v, 29r:78v, 80r:88v, 90r:112v, 114r:171v, 173r:357v, 359r:417v, 419r:449v, 482r:492v, 525r:544v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence