India, US meet on maritime diplomacy ahead of crucial net-zero vote

India's Directorate General of Shipping meets a US delegation to advance maritime talks on green shipping and security, with no discussion on the US threat over the IMO's net-zero emissions vote

While economic diplomacy between India and the United States (US) in the main has been deadlocked owing to the tariff issue, India’s maritime regulator, the Directorate General of Shipping, on Thursday met a high-level US delegation of officials to advance talks on maritime coordination and diplomacy. 

“The discussions were focused on sustainability and green shipping and also maritime security. The two countries work together in the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE) in terms of maritime security, and also for green shipping collaboration. The delegation met to discuss those,” said a senior government official. 

The meeting of the delegation was chaired by Shyam Jagannathan, director general (DG), shipping, and attended by senior officials.

 

Strengthening maritime-safety protocols, enhancing maritime domain awareness in the Arabian Sea, collaborative measures to address illegal maritime activities, and green shipping were discussed, according to the directorate. 

“There were aspects of green shipping, and with the new US administration, there were some new areas of focus discussed. As far as India is concerned, the idea is to ensure mutual shipping interests are protected,” the official added. 

This is the first time that the maritime administrator has met a US representative since US President Donald Trump has rejected the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO’s) net-zero carbon emission framework, supported by India and the Joe Biden administration, scheduled to be enforced in October following a vote. 

The IMO is the United Nations maritime watchdog. 

The US on Tuesday threatened retaliation against member nations should they not agree with its position on the net-zero emission framework, which seeks to penalise polluting vessels through a carbon levy. 

“The Trump administration unequivocally rejects this proposal before the IMO and will not tolerate any action that increases costs for our citizens, energy providers, shipping companies and their customers, or tourists. Our fellow IMO members should be on notice that we will look for their support against this action and not hesitate to retaliate or explore remedies for our citizens should this endeavor fail,” a joint statement by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said. 

The US administration has used tariff as a bargaining tool with its trade partners on several issues, and India has been at the receiving end of Trump’s chagrin over energy purchases from Russia, with the US President imposing a 25 per cent penalty over a 25 per cent tariff. 

“The government is preparing a set of guidelines for the IMO’s new framework, and while the US administration has made that call, there were no discussions on the subject during the meeting,” the source said. 

The government has done initial assessments of the carbon levy framework. 

In May, Business Standard reported that the DG (Shipping) estimated that added costs would be well within the industry’s comfort zone, and the India-Singapore proposal, agreed on by the IMO, will save the sector over $2 billion till 2030. 

“The compliance cost is projected at $87 million-100 million annually by 2030, assuming partial reliance on remedial units. This is equivalent to a 14 per cent increase in fuel cost and 5 per cent increase in freight rates — well within the industry’s operating margins,” it said. 

The regulator has asked shippers and stakeholders to review and initiate preparatory measures on monitoring the ship-level fuel intensity data, reviewing procurement strategies for low-GHG (greenhouse gas) fuels, planning green infrastructure upgrades at ports, and engaging with classification societies for an early compliance assessment. 

According to the US statement, these fuel standards will conveniently benefit China by requiring the use of expensive fuels unavailable on a global scale. 

“These standards would also preclude the use of proven technologies that fuel global shipping fleets, including lower emissions options where US industry leads such as liquified natural gas (LNG) and biofuels,” it said.