Fruitful discussions were held on bilateral maritime cooperation, says Sonowal
Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal has discussed various policies and programs initiating progress in the transportation facilities with Qatar Transport Minister Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti in New Delhi on 6 Feb 2023.
The discussions underlined 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, said the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways.
“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,” said Sonowal.
India’s bilateral trade with Qatar in 2021-22 was US$15.03 billion. India’s export to Qatar during 2021-22 was US$1.83 billion and India’s import from Qatar was US$13.19 billion.
In 2021, India was among the top four largest export destinations for Qatar and is also among the top three sources of Qatar’s imports.
Qatar’s key exports to India include LNG, LPG, chemicals and petrochemicals, fertilisers, plastics, and aluminium articles, while 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 and garments, chemicals, precious stones and rubber.
This year (2023) marks 50 years of establishment of full diplomatic relations between India and Qatar and Jassim Saif Ahmed Al-Sulaiti paid an official visit to India 5-8 Feb 2023. fiinews.com
