New Delhi:India and Portugal on Friday signed seven agreements and announced another seven agreements to boost cooperation in a range of areas after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa held extensive talks.

One of the MoUs signed is for cooperation for setting up a National Maritime Museum Heritage Complex in Lothal (Gujarat) between Portuguese Ministry f Defence and Indian Ministry of Shipping.

This particular MoU was signed by MoS Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya who is also Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat and Secretary of State for Defence, Portugal, Mr. Jorge Seguro Sanches.

It’s worth noting that the Union budget presented earlier this month also proposed allocation for a Maritime Museum in Lothal near Ahmedabad. Early this week union Culture and Tourism minister Prahlad Singh Patel also visited Lothal and proposed site for setting up National Maritime Heritage Museum.

In March 2019 Government of India had allocated a grant for building maritime museum and foundation stone for project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Then during Portuguese Defence Minister João Gomes Cravinho’s visit to India in April 2019, initial discussions were held between India and Portugal for developing maritime museum.

The proposed maritime museum in Indian is likely to come up on lines of similar museum at Lisbon, which is administered by Portuguese Navy.

Museum Project will be implemented by Union Ministry of Shipping through its Sagarmala programme, along with involvement of State government, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and other stakeholders.

Indian Navy is also keen to be a stakeholder in project and Portuguese Navy has agreed to assist the former with their experience of administering maritime museum in Lisbon.

Proposed museum will showcase and preserve India’s rich and diverse maritime heritage. It also seeks to highlight ancient shipbuilding and navigational technologies developed by India.

Portugal is home to the Navy Museum (a maritime museum) in Lisbon, which is administered by Portugal Navy.

Portugal – India relations:

Portugal is an important country for India in Southern Europe, and bilateral ties have witnessed a steady progress in the last 15 years.

In October 2005, Portugal extradited Abu Salem and Monica Bedi to face terror charges.

Prime Minister Modi visited Portugal in June 2017 during which 11 agreements were signed covering a large number of areas including space, avoidance of double taxation, nano-technology, biotechnology and higher education.

Sousa’s current visit:

Sousa arrived here on Thursday night on a four-day visit, his first to India. The last visit by a Portuguese President to India was in 2007. He is accompanied by a high-level delegation.

Officials said the talks covered entire expanse of bilateral ties including in areas of trade, investment and education.

In the morning, the Portuguese president was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The pacts signed after Modi-Sousa talks included a joint declaration a bilateral mobility partnership and another on maritime transport.

President Ram Nath Kovind will meet the visiting president on Friday evening and host a banquet in his honour. Sousa will also travel to Maharashtra and Goa during his visit.

List of MoUs/Agreements exchanged and announced during State Visit of President of Portugal

February 14, 2020