Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday held a meeting with Qatar Minister of Transport Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti in New Delhi and held a discussion on strengthening maritime cooperation between the two nations, including the interaction between Indian and Qatari ports.
Taking to his official Twitter handle, Sarbananda Sonowal stated, "Glad to meet Qatar Minister of Transport HE Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti in New Delhi. Had a wonderful discussion on strengthening India-Qatar maritime cooperation including the interaction between Indian and Qatari ports."
Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti is on an official visit to India from February 5-8 and this year marks 50 years of the establishment of full diplomatic ties between the two nations.
Sonowal and Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti held discussions on various policies and programs initiating progress in the transportation facilities between the two borders, according to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways press release.
Sonowal in the press release said, "Fruitful discussions were held on commitment to strengthen the bilateral maritime cooperation, including interaction between Indian Ports and Qatari Ports to share best practices in areas of port operations, logistics, supply chain management, and digitalization."
Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways Shantanu Thakur, Sudhansh Pant, Secretary (PSW), Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary (PSW), and senior officers of the Ministry attended the meeting along with Sonowal.
"India-Qatar cooperation in diverse sectors has been steadily growing in an excellent framework led by historical close ties, regular and substantive engagement. The large, diverse, accomplished and highly regarded Indian model of international relations is making an important contribution to Qatar's progress," the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said in the release.
According to the press release, Qatar's key exports to India include LNG, LPG, chemicals and petrochemicals, fertilizers, plastics, and aluminum articles. Meanwhile, India's key exports to Qatar include cereals, copper articles, iron and steel articles, vegetables, fruits, spices, and processed food products, electrical and other machinery, plastic products, construction materials, textiles & garments, chemicals, precious stones and rubber.
The press release said that India's bilateral trade with Qatar in 2021-22 reached USD 15.03 billion. India's export to Qatar was USD 1.83 billion during 2021-22 and India's export from Qatar was USD 13.19 billion. India was among the top four largest export destinations for Qatar in 2021 and also among the top three sources of Qatar's imports.
( With inputs from ANI )
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