India, Saudi Arabia agree to deepen maritime relations, form joint working group
India and Saudi Arabia are set to strengthen their maritime cooperation through a newly formed Joint Working Group, focusing on shipping and logistics. This collaboration aims to enhance the strategic partnership, building on existing strong economic and socio-cultural ties. Both nations see significant investment opportunities in India's port and shipping ecosystem, aligning with their respective long-term visions for maritime development.
AP Representational image India and Saudi Arabia have agreed to deepen bilateral maritime relations, an official statement said on Wednesday.Both countries have formed a Joint Working Group (JWG) on maritime cooperation in the shipping and logistics sectors, marking a new chapter in the strategic partnership, the statement said.This decision was taken during a high-level virtual meeting between Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser.According to the statement, Sonowal underscored the historic and growing relationship between the two nations."India and Saudi Arabia share centuries-old economic and socio-cultural ties, he said.
The establishment of the strategic partnership council, co-chaired by the leaders of both countries, has elevated bilateral cooperation to new heights. Sonowal pointed to recent developments, including the launch of the Jeddah-Mundra/Nhava Sheva route by Saudi Arabia's Folk Maritime Services, which is expected to cut down transit times and costs.He also proposed collaboration on India's MAITRI digital platform for the harmonisation of maritime trade.Saudi Arabia is India's fifth-largest trading partner, while India stands as the Kingdom's second-largest trading partner. Bilateral trade in FY 2024-25 stood at approximately USD 42 billion.During the talks, Sonowal highlighted complementarities between India's Maritime India Vision 2030 and Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 with Saudi Vision 2030. India invited Saudi Arabia to explore investment prospects across its port and shipping ecosystem.
The Maritime Development Fund, with a corpus of more than USD 3 billion, offers opportunities in port infrastructure, coastal shipping and logistics. Mega projects such as Vadhavan Port on India's west coast and the Outer Harbour Project at VO Chidambaranar Port in Tamil Nadu were showcased as key investment destinations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Why Putin's delegation used cash to refuel jets during Trump summit
Russian President Vladimir Putin's delegation had to pay nearly USD 250,000 (about Rs 2.2 crore) in cash to refuel three aircraft during a high-stakes summit with US President Donald Trump in Alaska on August 15, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News that the unusual payment was a direct consequence of US banking sanctions against Moscow, which prevent Russian officials from using the American financial system. 'When the Russians landed in Alaska, they were there to refuel. They had to offer to pay in cash to refuel their aeroplanes because they can't use our banking system,' he face consequences every single day, but the bottom line is that it has not altered the direction of this war. That doesn't mean those sanctions were inappropriate; it means it hasn't altered the outcome of it," he added. Putin and his team remained in Alaska for nearly five hours, attending a nearly three-hour meeting with Trump. While Trump later stated that 'no deal' or ceasefire agreement had been reached, reports indicate Russia presented a proposal that Trump encouraged Ukraine to meeting Putin, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington on Monday to discuss lasting security guarantees for Kyiv. Zelenskyy said he was willing to hold direct talks with Putin but rejected any deal involving territorial defended the existing sanctions' regime, saying all measures imposed before Trump took office remain intact and continue to exert daily pressure on Russia. However, he acknowledged that these penalties have not significantly altered the course of the conflict. 'Sanctions take months and sometimes years to bite,' he said, arguing that additional sanctions could jeopardize ongoing diplomatic efforts to bring both sides to the negotiating table.- EndsTune InMust Watch
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Tulsi Gabbard cuts intelligence office workforce, slashes budget by $700 million
US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced a sweeping overhaul of the nation's intelligence operations this week, revoking the security clearances of 37 current and former intelligence officials and slashing more than USD 700 million from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) acting on President Donald Trump's directive, accused those whose clearances were revoked of politicizing intelligence, leaking classified information, and manipulating intelligence assessments. Critics have questioned the legality of publicly naming individuals and warned the move could violate the Privacy the revocations, Gabbard unveiled plans to reduce the ODNI workforce by roughly 40 per cent, citing decades of 'bloat, inefficiency, and politicisation.' She said the changes would return the agency to its core mission: delivering objective and unbiased intelligence to the President and policymakers. Key offices—including the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which has monitored foreign election interference—will be restructured or absorbed. Gabbard claimed the center was used by the previous administration to suppress free speech and censor political decision has drawn praise from Republican allies, who see the move as a step toward a leaner, less politicised intelligence community, while Democrats and intelligence veterans warned it risks undermining national security and eroding nonpartisan analysis.- EndsWith inputs from agenciesMust Watch
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Need to tap full potential of trade & investment ties: Jaishankar to Russia
Underlining that they were meeting in the backdrop of a 'complex geopolitical situation', External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov Wednesday that they should tap into the 'full potential of trade and investment ties'. On a two-day visit to Moscow at a time when India faces 50 per cent tariffs from the Trump administration, including 25 per cent for importing Russian oil, Jaishankar said, 'We should not get stuck on a beaten track. Doing more and doing differently should be our mantras.' He will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Thursday. Russian officials have indicated that they will develop a 'special mechanism' to deal with the current situation. Jaishankar underlined the need for 'addressing tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, removing bottlenecks in logistics, promoting connectivity through the International North-South Transport Corridor, the Northern Sea Route and the Chennai-Vladivostok Corridor, effecting payment mechanisms smoothly, timely finalisation and execution of the Programme of Economic Cooperation till 2030, the early conclusion of the India-Eurasian Economic Union FTA, whose terms of reference were finalised today'. 'They will not only help to address the imbalance and grow our trade, but also hasten the timely achievement of our revised trade target of USD 100 billion by 2030,' he said while addressing the 26th Session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC). 'We are meeting here after about 10 months since the last session in November 2024 in New Delhi, and I think this is perhaps the shortest interval between the two sessions that we have ever had,' he said. 'We are all acutely aware that we are meeting in the backdrop of a complex geopolitical situation. Our leaders remain closely and regularly engaged. They provide us wise and practical guidance to our Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. They had two 'in-person' meetings last year and are personally committed to further advancing our strategic partnership,' he said, referring to the two phone calls between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin this month. The two leaders had discussed Putin's meeting with Trump in Alaska. While talking about the growing trade, Jaishankar also addressed the issue of the trade deficit. 'Over the last four years, our bilateral trade in goods has increased, as you have noted, more than five-fold from USD 13 billion in 2021 to USD 68 billion in 2024-25 and it continues to grow. However, a major trade imbalance has accompanied the growth; it has increased from USD 6.6 billion to USD 58.9 billion which is about nine times. So we need to address that urgently,' he said. After meeting Manturov, he said, 'We had detailed discussions on our cooperation in a wide-ranging arena including trade and economic sector, agriculture, energy, industries, skilling, mobility, education and culture.' Modi and Putin are likely to meet on the sidelines of the SCO leaders' summit in China's Tianjin on August 31 and September 1.
