Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (India) and Sara Beysolow Nyanti (Liberia) on the Group of Friends on Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers - Press Conference

Good morning, friends. We requested you all to join us today for press remarks by External Affairs Minister of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar, and Madam Sarah Biosolov Nyanti, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dean of Cabinet of the Government of Liberia. The two ministers will brief you on a new initiative just launched by India and Liberia. Please allow me to lay the ground rules. First, Minister Dr. Jayashankar will deliver his remarks. This will be followed by remarks by Minister Madam Nayanthi. Due to engagements of the two ministers immediately after this interaction, there would not be sufficient time for taking questions. I appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this regard. I now request Minister Dr. Jayashankar to kindly deliver his remarks.

Good morning to all of you. I'm joined by my sister, the Foreign Minister of Liberia, Sarah Besra Nyanthy, to brief you all about a new initiative led by our two nations. This is the group of friends on the safety and security of shipping and seafarers. Now, you would all be aware that in recent months, the world has seen unacceptable attacks on commercial shipping and merchant mariners. They are legally and morally indefensible. These have occurred from the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf to the Red Sea and the Black Sea. We believe that there can be no justification for such violence and loss of lives. Put simply, these attacks must stop. As a major source country for seafarers, India has joined hands with Liberia, which hosts the largest shipping registry by tonnage, on this matter. We have brought together other states with similar interests, as well as those who are major shipowners. Our first meeting of the Group of Friends was, I believe, attended by 25 countries this morning. Now, this initiative is an endeavour to draw greater global attention to issues pertaining to the seafarers and the commercial shipping industry. Nearly 2 million seafarers operate the world's merchant fleet, often navigating choppy waters, both literally and metaphorically. Recent global developments underline the threats posed to the safety and security of seafarers, including prolonged confinement on board, delayed crew changes and repatriation, separation from families, psychological distress, quite apart from the physical attacks that many of them have been subjected to. Now, you will all appreciate that the significance of this initiative If you recall that maritime shipping accounts for four-fifths of the global trade. And that trade, I remind you, was $35 trillion last year. This group, which we have started today, will be inclusive, voluntary, and action-oriented platform aimed at deepening cooperation among member states and other stakeholders. It will promote exchange of views, sharing of experiences, practical cooperation. It will complement and strengthen the existing international frameworks, mandates and instruments in these areas. And the discussions and deliberations in the group will focus on issues of importance with regard to shipping and seafarers. Members of the group will join hands to highlight and advance this issue. in various formats, plurilateral and multilateral, including the UN, most importantly the IMO, the ILO, and others as necessary. Overall effort would be made to strengthen the collective voice of the group to further issues of common interest. India and Liberia will serve as co-chairs of the group. We have had really a very, very productive session this morning. We will meet regularly and hope to build on that as we move forward. And we agreed that the detailing of this initiative would be done in a consultative manner based on the inputs and views that we heard today. Friends, the world is today beset by conflicts and confrontation. These are threatening the basic needs of the international community, including food, fuel, fertilizer, and finance, the four F's. Our initiative is meant to add to the factors of stability and confidence in what is otherwise an uncertain and turbulent world, and to signal that the international community cannot just be a spectator or indeed a victim of violence. We are hopeful that it will make some difference. I thank you for joining us today. And I would request my colleague to make her remarks.

Excellency, Excellency, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jaishankar, my brother and friend, and to all excellencies and members of the press, esteemed colleagues, thank you for joining this press stick out. I'm proud to address you today as we jointly announce a landmark diplomatic and maritime achievement, the official launch of the Group of Friends for Safety and Security of Shipping and Seafarers, established jointly by the Republic of Liberia and the Republic of India. Over 80% of the goods that power, feed, and heal our world moves by sea. The global economy does not run on abstract figures. It moves on water. Yet today, commercial shipping operates under compounding pressures, shifting geopolitical friction, escalating threats to transit corridors, and persistent gaps in maritime safety and labor standards. Liberia and India represent two indispensable pillars of the international maritime architecture. Liberia representing the largest registry by gross tonnage and India representing the country with the largest number of seafarers. Together, we are the picture of what goes across our waters every day and night. When Liberia's regulatory reach meets India's maritime workforce, our shared responsibility to the global commons become undeniable. The Group of Friends unites our nations around three non-negotiable imperatives. First and foremost is safety, demanding uncompromising technical standards, stringent vessel compliance, and coordinating environmental stewardship to prevent loss of life and marine degradation. Secondly, security of shipping itself, defending commercial sea lanes against piracy, armed attacks, regional instability, and asymmetric threats that are changing every day. Thirdly, seafarers. Centering the human beings who keep our world running. Seafarers must never be treated as expendable cargo that can just be dumped over the docks, over the sea, and thrown into unforgetfulness. We are joining hands to address crew abandonment, uphold fair labor standards, ensure rapid medical assistance, and protect crews transiting conflict corridors. Let me emphasize that the Group of Friends is not a symbolic gesture. It's an action-driven, multilateral coalition within the framework of the International Maritime Organization and the International Labor Organization. We're not here to duplicate, we're here to complement. We intend to use our collective weight to shape maritime policy, raise operational standards, and safeguard the men and women at sea. On behalf of His Excellency President Joseph Newmont Boakai, Sr. and the people of Liberia, and in collaboration with the Liberia Maritime Authority, led by Commissioner General Nito Lye and his team, any collaboration with all of our partners domestically. We will consult internationally. We will consult and we'll ensure that together we work to ensure that our waters remain safe corridors. Our waters remain safe passage for goods. Our waters remain safe to ensure that our domestic revenue generation is safeguarded. Our communities are safeguarded. And our people are protected. Thank you.

Thank you. Um ministers.

Thereby, when your government will stop sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan? Please, this is-- Why are you calling the Sikh leader, Gurmeet Singh Panju, here in New York? Can you just tell us when your government will stop sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan?

A terrorist country is asking me that question? Come on.

Pakistan presented those here to the UN. They are proof that your government is sponsoring Taliban in Pakistan. They are involved in killing of thousands of innocent people in Pakistan. Loud and clear. Shame on you, Jai Shankar. Yes.