India and Portugal will cooperate in the setting up of a national maritime heritage museum at Lothal in Gujarat.

The Indian Navy is keen to be a stakeholder in the project and the Portuguese Navy has agreed to assist with their experience of administering the maritime museum in Lisbon, according to defence sources.

Initial discussions were held during the visit of Portuguese Defence Minister João Gomes Cravinho to India in April. “It was agreed that we could work together to develop the maritime museum at the ancient Indian site of Lothal. Portugal Navy looks after their museum in Lisbon so it was discussed that we in India could follow a similar model,” a defence source said.

A Defence Ministry-led delegation would visit Portugal to study the existing museum, the source added.

The Government of India has allocated a grant for building the maritime museum and the foundation stone for the project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March.

The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Shipping through its Sagarmala programme, with the involvement of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the State government and other stakeholders.

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