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| India-Pakistan |
| Indian Ports in Chaos as Virus Lockdown Hits Operations |
| 2020-03-26 |
| [gCaptain] India’s government told all major ports that the coronavirus fight is a valid reason to halt some port operations, leaving traders in disarray about the flow of goods in and out of the world’s seventh-biggest economy. India’s Ministry of Shipping advised ports they may consider the Covid-19 pandemic as grounds for invoking force majeure, a clause absolving companies from meeting their contractual commitments for reasons beyond their control, according to a letter Tuesday seen by Bloomberg. Several ports and terminals have done so already, while also saying they aim to maintain operations as the government deemed shipping an “essential service.” The move follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-week lockdown on India’s 1.3 billion people, the most far-reaching measure by any government amid the pandemic. The declarations set off a wave of confusion, with traders and shipbrokers trying to assess whether the measures would halt operations at ports, which include some of the country’s biggest handlers of oil, liquefied natural gas and shipping containers. |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |