New Delhi, Mar 4 (FN Bureau) The Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Mansukh Mandavia on Thursday said that the 21st century will not belong to land but will be of the seas, skies and space. Virtually addressing the second edition of three-day maritime conference Maritime India Summit (MIS 2021) which concluded today, he said ‘Chabahar Port project will be developed as transit hub for cross connectivity between the India and Eurasia and further added that Chabahar Port handled 123 vessels and total 13,752 TEUs and 18 lakh tons of bulk and general cargo.
‘Chabahar Port has emerged as the ‘connecting point’ for the region to deliver humanitarian assistance during the COVID pandemic,’ Mr Mandaviya said while reiterating the importance and scope of the maritime sector. He also said that this conference will empower and strengthen Maritime India Vision-2030, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while inaugurating the summit. ‘Due to MIS-2021, the expectations and the aspirations of the world towards India has increased. We have to keep marching towards achieving our goal. MoU signed during the summit should borne successful outcome with our dedicated and focussed efforts, he said.
In the valedictory session of MIS-2021, the Ministry’s Additional Secretary Sanjay Bandopadhyaya said that that about 1.90 lakh delegates registered for the summit,16 international ministers from 11 nations joined for different sessions. ‘A total of six union ministers, Chief Ministers of three states and two state ministers joined us for different sessions. A total of 55 CEOs, which included 31 international CEOs and 24 Indian CEOs joined during the CEO’s forum,’ senior officials of the Ministry informed.