India, Qatar discuss ways to strengthen maritime cooperation

New Delhi: Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday met Minister of Transport of Qatar Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti and discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral maritime cooperation, according to an official statement. The statement said India-Qatar cooperation in diverse sectors has been steadily growing in an excellent framework led by historical close ties, regular and substantive engagement.

“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 digitalisation,” the statement said quoting Sonowal.

India’s bilateral trade with Qatar in 2021-22 was USD 15.03 billion. India’s export to Qatar during 2021-22 was USD 1.83 billion and India’s import from Qatar was USD 13.19 billion.

According to the statement, in 2021, India was among the top four largest export destinations for Qatar and also among the top three sources of Qatar’s imports.

The statement further said that the year 2023 marks 50 years of establishment of full diplomatic relations between India and Qatar.

Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti is on an official visit to India from February 5-8, 2023.