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TH
17 CONVOCATION
We will have to provide them a research conducive environment so that their creative
ideas get materialized.
Now I would like to appraise all of you regarding Maritime Transportation and how
India is becoming a global player.

GLORIOUS PAST OF ANCIENT MARITIME INDIA :
Maritime trade links with the local rulers of Sumatra, Java, Malay Peninsula, Thailand
and China. The people of Odisha, then known as Kalinga also traveled through sea
routes to South East Asia. Fish Hooks and spears similar to those used in Kalinga
were unearthed in Vietnam giving a testimony of Odisha’s maritime relations with
Southeast Asia and China. The tradition of Bali Jatra is still popular in Odisha, and it
is held in October-November for about a
week. Archaeological evidence of indigo
on the fabric of an Egyptian mummy,
mention of the trade of Indian Ivory by
Homer, Indian cedar found in the palace
of Nebuchadnezzar, Indian teak in the
temple of the Moon Goddess in Ur,
description of India and her skilled
seafarers, ports, inhabitants, items of
trade, structure of kingdoms including
flora and fauna in foreign traveler’s
accounts like Pliny, Ptolemy, Strabo,
Megasthanes, Fa-hein, I-Tsing,
Xuangzang, merchant Sulaiman of
Siraf, Marco Polo, Nicolo Conti and
others point towards an unerring
navigational skills and the maritime
prowess of the Indian.

This is the onerous history and tradition of yore you have to become worthy of
proving yourself to this rich maritime tradition.
INDIA AS A WORLD LEADER

Our mighty Nation’s growth story and trajectory is in the limelight globally and it is
indeed India’s moment. The most populous and yet the youngest in terms of a
demographic dividend, the largest and most diverse democracy and yet the most
stable political and socio economy structure, with its economic growth defying the
post COVID slump and continuing growth story, the Indian economic Saga is set to
surpass Japan and Germany by 2030, becoming the second largest economy in the
Asia Pacific Region. While today India is ranked fifth in terms of the size of its

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