India and Cyprus open first Joint Maritime Committee, eye Mumbai business forum

Stay connected to Greek City Times for Free on Google News
Click NOW

An Indian delegation led by Venkatesapathy S., Joint Secretary (International Cooperation) in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, is in Cyprus for the first meeting of the India–Cyprus Joint Maritime Committee and a round of talks with the island’s maritime industry.

He is accompanied by Deependra Singh Bisen, Deputy Director General in the Directorate General of Maritime Administration, and by India’s High Commissioner to Cyprus, Manish, and officials of the High Commission in Nicosia, the Directorate General of Shipping said in a post on 3 October.

The committee met in Limassol on 29 September under the bilateral Agreement on Merchant Shipping signed in 2017. It was co-chaired by Venkatesapathy and Theodoulos Mesimeris, Acting Permanent Secretary of Cyprus’s Shipping Deputy Ministry. The Cypriot government said the session is part of the Cyprus–India Joint Action Plan and follows the shared commitment of President Nikos Christodoulides and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deepen ties, with shipping treated as a core area of partnership.

Talks covered ship management and maritime services, shipping finance, ship repair and recycling, seafarer training, certification and welfare, safety, green shipping and decarbonisation, and cooperation at the International Maritime Organisation. The Indian side also met Cyprus-based shipping and ship-management companies to look at investment, industry partnerships, green maritime technologies and more openings for Indian seafarers.

In a separate note on the industry leg, the Directorate General of Shipping said the delegation sat with the Cyprus Shipping Chamber and companies including OSM Thome, Uniteam Marine, Lemissoler and Interorient. Those discussions included Cyprus firms expanding in India, possible investment in ship management, shipbuilding, repair and maritime services, and knowledge-sharing on green fuels and the EU Ship Recycling Regulation.

Both sides are already looking past this visit. Cyprus’s Shipping Deputy Minister, Marina Hadjimanolis, is expected to travel to India with a maritime business delegation, and a Maritime Business Forum is planned in Mumbai in November 2026 to match companies and investment interest.

Cyprus is one of the world’s larger ship-management centres. India supplies a large share of the global seafaring workforce and is trying to pull more of the value chain — management, finance, repair, recycling and training — onshore. Officials on both sides framed the Limassol meetings as an attempt to turn the 2017 agreement into specific work rather than another statement of intent.

The Directorate General of Shipping said the visit is meant to “translate the India–Cyprus maritime relationship into specific and actionable areas of cooperation,” bringing government, maritime administration and industry into the same room.

READ MORE: Mitsotakis warns Turkey: European defence funds cannot come without conditions.

Stay updated with the latest news from Greece and around the world on greekcitytimes.com.
Contact our newsroom to share your updates, stories, photos, or videos. Follow GCT on Google News and Apple News.