UK defence secretary Gavin Williamson made the announcement after large-scale exercises in the sultanate Earlier this year, Britain opened a permanent military base in Bahrain LONDON: Oman and Britain will open a joint military training base next year to help counter the activities of hostile states and extremist groups. UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the base would open in March. He made the announcement as he visited the country to observe the end of a large-scale joint military exercise involving tens of thousands of personnel practicing desert combat. “Our relationship with Oman is built on centuries of cooperation and we are cementing that long into the future with the opening of our new joint base,” Williamson said. “This has never been more important as malign activity by hostile states and violent extremist organisations seek to undermine stability and subvert the rules based order on which we all rely.” Earlier this year, Britain opened a permanent military base in Bahrain. The Al Saif Al Sareea 3 military exercises included 70,000 defence personnel from Oman and 5,500 soldiers, sailors, pilots and engineers from the British Armed Forces. Military commanders from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Jordan and Egypt on Friday to attended the conclusion of Al Saif Al Sareea 3. *With Reuters