Sagarmanthan 2026: Ports, green shipping corridor, and supply chains in focus at day 2 bilateral talks

The second day of Sagarmanthan 2026 proved to be extremely fruitful for India, as it saw Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), Sarbananda Sonowal, build on maritime ties with delegates from Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, and Belgium.

The talks spanned port investments, green shipping, upskilling, inland waterways, cargo handling, cooperation in shipbuilding, and building resilient supply chains.

With representatives from the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani), the focus was not just on how Riyadh could participate in India's upcoming major port projects, such as Vadhvan and Galathea Bay, but also on possible investments into India's Maritime Development Fund (MDF), as well as cooperation in shipbuilding, seafarer training and building resilient supply chains.

The MDF is a key part of the MoPSW's flagship ₹69,725 crore maritime support package from September 2025, with a corpus of ₹25,000 for the provision of long-term financing for the shipping sector.

This includes a Maritime Investment Fund of ₹20,000 crore and an Interest Incentivization Fund of ₹5,000 crore to reduce the effective cost of debt and improve project bankability.

With Annick De Ridder, a Belgian lawmaker who handles ports and mobility among other portfolios in the Flemish Parliament, the talks were focused on a green shipping corridor linking Indian ports with the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.

This comes just months after the V.O. Chidamabaranar Port, one of three designated Green Hydrogen hubs in the country, signed an agreement with the PoAB in July to explore cooperation in capacity building, green port initiatives and digital transformation for port operations.

Finally, with Lyonpo Chandra Bahadur Gurung, Bhutan's infrastructure and transport minister, Sonowal discussed not just current collaborations, but also future ones.

While the Brahmaputra River (National Waterway-2) and the Jogighopa terminal were talked about as Bhutan's "gateway to global trade", the two ministers also looked at the possible maritime opportunities on the Manas and Sankosh rivers.

Sonowal also interacted with three women officers who had completed the Samudra Pradakshina, India's first-ever Tri-service all-women circumnavigation sailing expedition, on the sidelines of Sagarmanthan 2026.

Union Minister of State (MoS), MoPSW, Shantanu Thakur, also conversed with representatives from Greece, Lithuania, Mozambique and Myanmar on the sidelines of the event, taking forward port collaborations, green shipping, seafarer training programmes, and more.

"India is ready to work with the world for safer seas, greener shipping and shared prosperity," Sonowal said on day two of the event, which also had plenaries on securing global trade chokepoints, the Global South at the maritime table, AI in maritime, green ports, equity in ocean futures, BRICS+ connectivity and green shipbuilding.

The three-day event, themed 'Blue Geographies, New Aspirations: Trade, Technology, and Trust at Sea', bringing together more than 1,200 speakers, delegates, and participants from nearly 75 countries to Delhi, will end on October 9.