New Delhi: Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal had a meeting with Jan Christian Vestre Minister of Trade and Industry of Norway in New Delhi on Thursday.

The Ministers discussed issues of bilateral interest including Green Ports and Shipping, training of seafarers, use of alternative fuels like green ammonia and hydrogen for futuristic shipping and sustainable ship recycling.

Implementation of Green Coastal Shipping Programme solutions in India was also deliberated upon. Both countries reiterated their commitment towards harnessing niche technologies to implement zero emission solutions in Ports and Shipping sector.

In recent years, both countries have been increasingly tapping their bilateral economic and technical complementarities. Indo-Norwegian bilateral ties are marked by regular exchanges of high level visits between the two countries.

The last Joint Working Group Maritime meeting between the two countries was held in November 2022. MoPSW had also participated in the 5th edition of India-Norway Task Force on Blue Economy in June 2022.

India is also a part of the GreenVoyage2050 - a partnership project between the Government of Norway and IMO launched in May 2019 aiming to transform the shipping industry towards a lower carbon future.

During the meeting, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal expressed that the visit of the Minister of Norway to India will give a fillip to the growing maritime cooperation in shipping and Ports between the two countries. He stated that, “to fulfil the vision of Green ports and Green Shipping of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji, We are also looking forward to Norway sharing their expertise on Hydrogen fuel cell ferries, Autonomous Surface vessels, low-emission LNG-hybrid vessels, zero emission solar battery Ro-RO ferry vessels, inland and coastal LPG/LNG carriers”.

The delegation of Norway comprised of senior officials of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ambassador of Norway to India and various Norwegian companies. From the Indian side the Chairperson NSB, Additional Secretary (PSW) and other senior officials from MoPSW accompanied the Union Minister.