Gwadur agreement: secondment of Pakistani servicemen to armed forces of Muscat and Oman

This file relates to the Gwadur [Gwadar] Agreement, 1958 and to the secondment of Pakistani servicemen to the armed forces of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. It contains correspondence on:

• Request by Pakistan to amend the Gwadar Agreement and to suspend its provision allowing for the recruitment of Pakistani subjects by the Sultan's Armed Forces (SAF) and the refusal of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman Saeed Bin Taimur to agree to the amendment or suspension
• Importance of Pakistani recruits to the SAF and the question of whether Pakistanis should serve in combat roles
• Pakistan's war with India and the consequent restrictions imposed by Pakistan on its subjects going into 'foreign government service'; and a request from Pakistan that seconded officers be released by the Sultanate
• Refusal of the Pakistan authorities to allow 'leave expired' SAF personnel to return to the Sultanate
• The Sultan’s refusal of a request from Pakistan for the release of Major Mohammad Sakhi Raja from the Muscat Dhofar Force; and the Sultan's insistence that Major M M Shahbuddin, Captain Sarfarz Ahmad Mir, Major Niaz Shafi Qazi and Captain M Bashir Ahmad be replaced by civilian dental and medical personnel before they can be released
• Desire of the Pakistanis to ensure that future recruitment to the SAF should not extend to Pakistani subjects from regions other than Gwadar and Makran
• Scope of the existing agreement and whether it confers voting rights, or rights of dual nationality on Muscati subjects, placing them at an advantage over Pakistani subjects