The result of paleoclimate studies on the relationship between the Indian monsoon and solar activity, inferred from the analysis of stalagmites in Oman, is confirmed by using a modern meteorological dataset from 1958--1999. The present result suggests that the solar influence on monsoon activity is not due to a change in radiative heating in the troposphere but, rather, originates from the stratosphere through modulation of the upwelling in the equatorial troposphere, which produces a north-south seesaw of convective activity over the Indian Ocean sector during summer. Higher precipitation over Arabia and India, thus, occurs during high solar activity.