NEW DELHI, October 8. /TASS/. India assigns a special place to cooperating with Russia in the sphere of shipbuilding, port modernization and development of other marine infrastructure, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal told TASS.

"We are trying to make our every vertical globally standard," the minister said. This pertains to the shipbuilding ecosystem, modernization and mechanization of ports, transport connectivity, creation of industrial clusters and development of cities around the ports, Sonowal said. Attention is also paid to "high-end skill required for the ship building and ship repair, ship recycling, and also the ecosystem," the minister stressed.

India is interested in cooperating "with Russia, especially, they are our old friend. We are always interested to walk together. We have been walking for decades together. So our like kind of friendship is growing much stronger day by day, Sonowal added.