New Delhi [India], November 19 (ANI): The Great Oceans Dialogue, an initiative by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) in partnership with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), concluded successfully in New Delhi on Tuesday. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal announced India's aspiration to rank among the top 10 shipbuilding nations by 2030, as part of a larger vision for a robust maritime future.

The sessions attempted discussions and examination of how partnerships can be developed and built upon.

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In a special message shared from Nigeria, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the maiden maritime event, Sagarmanthan, The Ocean's Dialogue - being held at the national capital, emphasizing its importance in building consensus and partnerships for humanity's prosperous future.

"Our vision for a free, open and secure maritime network - be it the Indian Ocean or the Indo-Pacific region - is finding resonance across the world. The 'Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative envisions marine resources as a key pillar for growth for nations. This dialogue on oceans further strengthens the rules-based world order and enhances peace, trust and friendship between nations," PM Modi said.

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"As we strive to realise the vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047, dialogues such as Sagarmanthan are invaluable to build consensus, partnerships and most importantly, a prosperous future. With the collective efforts of all stakeholders, I am confident that these discussions will resonate far and wide, paving the way toward a brighter, more connected future," he added.

Sagarmanthan is South Asia's largest maritime thought leadership forum. Organized by MoPSW and ORF, the event brought together global leaders, policymakers, and visionaries to discuss critical themes such as the blue economy, global supply chains, maritime logistics, and sustainable growth.

During the one-on-one conversation, Union Minister Sonowal said, "India has a vision of becoming a major maritime nation by 2030, as envisioned by the dynamic Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji. With our sustained effort to infuse modernisation, digitisation and mechanisation of the sector, we have broken through the issues of inefficiency, which is a thing of the past now."

"Given that India has the rich talent pool as well as resources to become a major shipbuilding nation, we are aiming to enter the Top 10 of shipbuilding countries by 2030 while working our way to becoming the world's Top 5 by 2047 - a milestone key to the realisation of the vision of PM Narendra Modi ji's Atmanirbhar Bharat. We are also confident that the rich resource pool and a vibrant democratic set-up will embolden our ports to handle 10,000 Million Tonnes of cargo by 2047," Sonowal added.

These remarks by the Minister at the inaugural session of the second day of Sagarmanthan set the tone. The conversation was conducted by Samir Saran, President of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

Union Minister Sonowal also interacted with technical experts on creating a circular blue economy. While the session focused on sustainability at sea as a priority, the discussion attempted to hedge solutions around its many challenges.

He further said, "Blue Economy is an important aspect of humanity's evolution. It is important that global collaboration takes the driver's seat while domestic energy is revitalising our approach to the blue economy."

"This event is aimed at finding creative solutions and new policy directions that empower coastal communities and oceans-based businesses. Sagarmanthan has given a start to identify pathways and secure supply chains through as much green energy as possible while working on effective partnerships between the local, the global and the corporate. Various aspects of the maritime sector like shipbuilding, working conditions of seafarers bridging the gender gap, financing future development, innovative solutions, and strategies to rebuild resilience and prosperity along our coasts while developing new routes for newer resources were discussed at length here today. This has given us ample knowledge - the nectar of Sagarmanthan - which we will respectfully study and apply towards sustainable evolution of the maritime sector," he added.

Sonowal also delivered a keynote address at the Ministerial Dinner Roundtable with the Think Tank community over dinner last night.

Connecting the heartlands of future growth session, Ruben Eiras, Secretary General, Forum Oceano, Portugal, pointed out the importance of 'digitisation and its integration with Artificial Intelligence applications for optimising routes and also for advanced vessel dynamics.' Eiras also acknowledged how India has been developing Inland Waterways and how other countries can benefit from this development.

At the event, experts also hedged intelligence towards finding greener solutions without disrupting the supply lines of the world. Dawoon Jung, Lecturer, Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, University of Wollongong, Australia, underscored how there is a need to develop regulations for the use of alternative fuels.

On India's quest to become the top ship manufacturing country in the world, global experts from the Netherlands, Panama, Norway, Egypt, and Australia discussed with leading Indian maritime experts on various aspects of shipbuilding. The session touched upon why it is necessary to restore resilience, and decentralised production of global shipbuilding, various frameworks for incentivising innovation and streamlining processes in the shipbuilding industry and how the rest of the world can learn best practices of shipbuilding from the world's leading ship manufacturing nations. (ANI)

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