Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, met with H.E. Mr. Jan Christian Vestre, Minister of Trade and Industry of Norway, in Delhi. The meeting was aimed at discussing the issues of bilateral interest between India and Norway and exploring ways to enhance their maritime cooperation.
During the meeting, both ministers discussed key topics such as green ports and shipping, training seafarers, alternative fuels for futuristic shipping, and sustainable ship recycling. The discussion also focused on the implementation of the Green Coastal Shipping Programme solutions in India. Both countries expressed their commitment to adopting niche technologies to achieve zero-emission solutions in the ports and shipping sector.
In recent years, India and Norway have been leveraging their bilateral economic and technical complementarities to deepen their cooperation. Regular high-level visits between the two countries have marked their bilateral ties. The last Joint Working Group Maritime meeting was held in November 2022, and the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways also participated in the 5th edition of the India-Norway Task Force on Blue Economy in June 2022. India is a part of the GreenVoyage2050 project, a partnership between the Government of Norway and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), launched in May 2019, to transform the shipping industry towards a lower carbon future.
During the meeting, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal highlighted the significance of the visit by the Minister of Norway to India and expressed that it would give a boost to the growing maritime cooperation in shipping and ports b\w the two countries. He also mentioned that India is looking forward to learning from Norway’s expertise in areas such as hydrogen fuel cell ferries, autonomous surface vessels, low-emission LNG-hybrid vessels, and zero-emission solar battery Ro-RO ferry vessels.
The delegation of Norway was comprised of senior officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ambassador of Norway to India, and various Norwegian companies. From the Indian side, the Union Minister was accompanied by the Chairperson of the National Shipping Board, the Additional Secretary of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, and other senior officials.
The meeting between the two ministers was a productive one, and both countries expressed their commitment to working together to achieve a greener and more sustainable future in the shipping and ports sector.
