India-CARICOM partnership receives new impetus

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic three-day visit to Guyana was the first by an Indian Prime Minister after an interregnum of 56 years. Indira Gandhi was the last Indian Prime Minister to visit Guyana in 1968.

In addition to the bilateral state visit to Guyana, Prime Minister Modi co-chaired the second India-CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Summit.

The first meeting was held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly 5 years ago, in September 2019.

Strengthening ties between India and CARICOM
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an intergovernmental political and economic union composed of 15 member states and five associate members spanning the Americas, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean.

Its main objective is to promote economic integration and cooperation, equitably share the benefits of integration and coordinate foreign policy. The organization was established in 1973 by the English-speaking Caribbean countries with its secretariat headquarters located in Georgetown, Guyana.

CARICOM currently includes all independent English-speaking island countries as well as Belize, Guyana, Montserrat and Suriname, with all other British Caribbean territories and Bermuda as associate members.

Prime Minister Modi co-chaired the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit, alongside Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell of Grenada, current President of CARICOM.

The Summit was attended by Heads of State and Government of 11 Member States viz. Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The foreign ministers of Belize, Jamaica and Saint Kitts and Nevis also participated.

Advancing CARICOM Interests
PM Modi put forward proposals in seven verticals using CARICOM alphabets. The first C stands for Capacity Building, A for Agriculture and Food Security, R for Renewable Energy and Climate Change, I for Innovation, Technology and Trade, C for Cricket and Culture, O for Ocean Economy and Maritime Security, and M for Medicine and health care.

The seven pillars of “CARICOM” have one thing in common: they are all based on your priorities and needs. This is the fundamental principle of our cooperation, Prime Minister Modi said.

In the area of ​​capacity building, 1,000 new ITEC slots will be granted to CARICOM countries over the next five years. CARICOM countries are already benefiting from and greatly appreciating these training programs.

These are generic and specially tailor-made for each country according to its needs. In the area of ​​food security, India has proposed the use of drones, digital agriculture, agricultural mechanization, soil testing and ways to convert sargassum seaweed into fertilizer.

In the field of renewable energy, India offered the expertise of the International Solar Alliance, its membership in the Global Biofuel Alliance, as well as the LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) Mission for a sustainable future.

India proposed its Indian Stack for Digital Public Infrastructure, Cloud-based DigiLockers and Unified Payments Interface. India has also offered to train eleven young female cricketers from each Caribbean country in India.

Indian Culture Days will be organized next year to further promote people-to-people relations.

In the maritime domain, India has proposed maritime domain mapping, hydrography and maritime security through patrolling.

All the proposals put forward by Prime Minister Modi covered areas that CARICOM states felt the need for, such as the high incidence of non-communicable diseases, viz. cancer and diabetes, skilled labor shortages, climate resilience and sustainable development, energy security, including the exploitation of renewable energy, national security, including coastal surveillance, connectivity, in particular inter-maritime connectivity islands for goods and passengers, and women's empowerment, etc.

Prime Minister Modi proposed the establishment of Jan Aushadhi Kendras to provide quality and affordable healthcare to ordinary citizens of all CARICOM countries.

He suggested the use of space technology for resource mapping, climate studies and agriculture in CARICOM countries. All these initiatives and several others were applauded and warmly welcomed by the participating leaders.

India's help during the Covid-19 pandemic
CARICOM leaders were particularly appreciative that at the height of the COVID pandemic, India came to their aid by donating vaccines and providing medical assistance.

All the leaders warmly thanked Prime Minister Modi and said that India is like a family member of the CARICOM community. They expressed sincere appreciation for Prime Minister Modis' visit and welcomed the proposed roadmap to further strengthen their partnership.

The leaders witnessed a fly-past of the recently acquired HAL 228 aircraft, two of which were gifted by India to Guyana.

The Commonwealth of Dominica has awarded Prime Minister Modi its highest national honour. He thanked the President of Dominica for his special effort in traveling to Guyana to present the award.

The Prime Minister of Barbados also announced his decision to bestow the country's highest honor on Prime Minister Modi.

On the sidelines of the India-CARICOM Summit, Prime Minister Modi held nine bilateral meetings with the leaders of Guyana, Dominica, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada and Saint Lucia.

India-Guyana Bilateral Partnership
Ten MoUs were signed during Prime Minister Modis' talks with President Irfaan Ali of Guyana. These covered areas such as hydrocarbons and energy, health and pharmaceuticals, agriculture, digital cooperation, culture, defense and security studies, etc.

Prime Minister Modi announced that the scope of bilateral collaboration has been expanded from energy to business, from Ayurveda to agriculture, from infrastructure to innovation, from healthcare to human resources and from data to development.

Discussions between the two sides will take place to finalize a long-term agreement on the supply of oil and gas to India.

In a moving and impressive ceremony, Prime Minister Modi was conferred Guyana's highest honor by President Irfaan Ali.

In his speech at a special session of the Guyana Parliament, Prime Minister Modi highlighted the principle of democracy first, humanity first to resolve the challenges facing the world today.

He said that India does not follow the expansionist policy and does not covet or exploit the resources of other countries. He presented India as a Vishwabandhu and a true friend and voice of the South.

Prime Minister Modi's visit to Guyana provided a major boost to India's ties with Guyana as well as other CARICOM countries.

This has enormously advanced India's political, economic and strategic interests and influence, and significantly strengthened its image in the world.

Increase in the GDP of the Guianas
Guyana witnessed the discovery of significant quantities of oil and gas in 2015. This has made it a very important source of fossil fuels in the world.

With its reserves of 11 billion barrels of oil, the country has the fourth largest offshore oil reservoir, after Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Mexico.

This discovery promises to change Guyana forever, propelling it and its people to new heights of power and wealth.

Oil already generates $1 billion in revenue annually and is expected to produce around $7.5 billion by 2040. Thanks to its oil wealth, the Guyanas' GDP has seen an astronomical increase of 43% in 2023.

Resilience of the Indo-Guyanese community
Guyana is a small country of 800,000 inhabitants, 40% of whom, or just over 300,000 citizens, are of Indian origin.

Indians were first brought to Guyana as indentured laborers by the British to work on the sugar plantations in 1838.

The fact that she rose not only to wrest independence from the British colonizers in 1966, but also to occupy the most important leadership positions in all spheres of the country is a brilliant commentary on the determination and resilience of the community Indo-Guyanese.

Today, President Dr. Maryland Irfaan Ali, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and several ministers are of Indian origin.

Although they are Guyanese citizens and have lived here since birth, they maintain close civilizational, cultural, emotional, religious and culinary ties with India.

***The writer is a distinguished member of the Ananta Aspen Center; he served as India's ambassador to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Latvia; the opinions expressed here are his own