London: India has presented its candidature for re-election to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council at the organisation’s 134th session in London, where the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways highlighted key aspects of maritime safety and gender inclusivity.
At a special India-themed reception at the IMO Headquarters on Thursday evening, Ministry Secretary T K Ramachandran and Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami announced the decision to seek re-election in Category B of the Council.
The election for the 2025-26 biennium will take place at the organisation’s Assembly later this year and follows India’s re-election with the highest tally back in December 2023.
“India embraces the philosophy of One Earth, One Family, One Future, and we bring this vision to life through fostering robust and collaborative maritime efforts,” said Ramachandran in his address at the reception.
“Under our Vision 2047, we see maritime growth as a corner of global progress, and we deeply value a growing engagement with the IMO and its member states… we have several pillars, including shipbuilding, ship recycling, ship financing, ship ownership and ship flagging, the entire ecosystem,” he said.
The senior official highlighted the ministry’s plans to invest USD 1 trillion in the sector over the next 25 years as he invited representatives from around the world to “partner with India in this quest for us to become one of the leading maritime nations in the world, and I trust that we will continue to receive your support as we seek re-election to the IMO Council”.
India’s candidature falls under the Category of 10 states with “the largest interest in international seaborne trade”, alongside Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“I do want to emphasise how much we value the partnerships that we have forged with many delegations here, across the years, and our effort to see the IMO as a central pillar of the international order in the international maritime system, but most of all, as a technocratic body staffed by highly skilled professionals who do so much to ensure that our world functions in the way to which we have gotten used to,” said Doraiswami.
The IMO is the premier body that oversees the maritime sector, which in turn underpins international trade, transport and all maritime activities.
The Council is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the work of the organisation. The Assembly normally meets once every two years in a regular session.
It is responsible for approving the work programme, voting the budget and determining the financial arrangements of the organisation. It also elects the organisation’s 40-Member Council at these meetings for the next two-year period.
The delegation led by Ramachandran reaffirmed India’s continued support to IMO’s efforts towards maritime safety, environmental protection, and inclusive development of the global maritime community during the IMO Council session in London.
Earlier in the week, the team jointly hosted an ‘India Maritime Investment Meet’ with the High Commission of India in London to showcase the country as a fast-growing maritime economy and invite representatives from the UK’s shipping industries to India Maritime Week 2025 in Mumbai, scheduled for October.
