India and Saudi Arabia have agreed to deepen their bilateral maritime relations by forming a Joint Working Group (JWG) on maritime cooperation in the shipping and logistics sectors. This decision was made during a high-level virtual meeting between Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Transport and Logistic Services, Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser. Sonowal highlighted the historic ties between the two nations and noted recent developments, such as the launch of the Jeddah-Mundra/Nhava Sheva route by Folk Maritime Services, which is expected to reduce transit times and costs.
Sonowal also invited Saudi Arabia to explore investment opportunities in India’s port and shipping ecosystem, highlighting the Maritime Development Fund with a corpus of over $3 billion. Mega projects like the Vadhavan Port and the Outer Harbour Project at VO Chidambaranar Port were showcased as key investment destinations. Saudi Arabia is India’s fifth-largest trading partner, while India is the Kingdom’s second-largest.