Georgetown:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met with the top leaders of Caribbean nations on the margins of the India-CARICOM Summit here and discussed strengthening bilateral ties and enhancing cooperation across several key areas.

The Prime Minister arrived in Guyana earlier in the day — the first visit by an Indian head of the state to the country in more than 50 years.

He met leaders of the Caribbean partner countries on Wednesday at the sidelines of the second India-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Summit.

“Had an excellent meeting with Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana. The President himself enjoys a strong bond with India,” PM Modi said in a post on X.

The two leaders reviewed the bilateral developmental cooperation, including in sectors like skill development, capacity building, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, education and energy.

“India will always be a trusted partner for Guyana in sectors like infrastructure, shipping, technology and more,” he said, calling the Caribbean nation’s support for initiatives like the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and Global Biofuels Alliance “noteworthy”.

He also met Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

“During the meeting, Prime Minister of Barbados announced the decision of her government to confer on the Prime Minister the Honorary Order of Freedom of Barbados Award, recognising his leadership in assisting during the Covid-19 pandemic and commitment to India-Barbados ties,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a post on X. The award will be bestowed on November 30 in Barbados, it said.

“This high-level engagement provided an opportunity for both leaders to reaffirm and strengthen the India-Barbados relationship while reviewing ongoing cooperation across several key areas, including health & pharma and collaboration at the United Nations,” it added.

Prime Minister Modi also met his Bahamas counterpart Philip Davis and had a “fruitful” discussion focused on strengthening economic ties, climate change action and green partnerships.

“The leaders also exchanged views on the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign,” the MEA said in an X post.

On the sidelines of the India-CARICOM Summit, PM Modi also met Prime Minister Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago.

He congratulated Dr Rowley for adopting India’s flagship UPI platform. “The leaders discussed ways to strengthen – relations in areas of digital transformation, health, defence and maritime security, transportation and cultural exchanges,” the MEA said in a separate post.

The two leaders also witnessed the exchange of an MoU on setting up Integrated Automatic Fruit and Vegetable Primary Processing Activities in Trinidad and Tobago.

PM Modi also met the President of Suriname Chan Santokhi and the two leaders reviewed progress on the bilateral partnership and emphasised the importance of strengthening economic cooperation.

“They agreed to expand bilateral cooperation in areas including defence and security, trade & commerce, agriculture, digital initiatives including UPI, ICT, healthcare, traditional medicine and pharmaceuticals, capacity building, human resource development, cultural and people-to-people engagements,” the MEA said.

The Prime Minister also met Roosevelt Skerrit, his Dominica counterpart, whom he thanked for the conferment of the country’s highest award.

Dominica conferred its top award on PM Modi for his contributions to the Caribbean nation during the COVID-19 pandemic and his dedication to enhancing the bilateral partnership.

“The leaders explored opportunities for – cooperation in areas such as climate resilience, healthcare, capacity building and deepening of people-to-people ties. They also discussed cooperation at the United Nations,” the MEA said.

PM Modi also held a meeting with the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne.

“PM congratulated PM Browne for successfully hosting the 4th SIDS conference. PM Browne appreciated the seven pillar CARICOM plan put forth by PM at the Summit. The leaders exchanged views on issues of trade & investment, capacity building for SIDS, and climate change action. PM Browne announced support for India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council,” the ministry said in a post on X.

The Prime Minister also met St Lucia Prime Minister Philip J Pierre on the margins of the Summit.

“Both sides exchanged views on cooperation in the fields of capacity building, education, health, cricket, and yoga and stressed the need to further reinforce India-St Lucia bilateral relations,” the MEA said.

During the India-CARICOM Summit, the prime minister proposed seven key pillars to strengthen ties between India and the Caribbean Community, asserting that New Delhi is committed to taking these relations to new heights.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Georgetown:

Dominica has conferred its top award on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his contributions to the Caribbean nation during the COVID-19 pandemic and his dedication to enhancing the bilateral partnership between India and Dominica.

The prime minister, who is in Guyana on the last leg of his three-nation visit, was conferred the “Dominica Award of Honour” by President Sylvanie Burton of Dominica during the India-CARICOM Summit here on Wednesday.

“Honoured to be conferred with highest national award by Dominica. I dedicate it to the 140 crore people of India,” Modi said in a post on X.

“The award is a recognition of PM’s statesmanship and contribution to Dominica during the COVID-19 pandemic and his commitment to strengthening India-Dominica ties,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a post on X.

Guyana and Barbados will also confer their top awards on Prime Minister Modi, bringing his tally of international honours to 19.

Dominica announced its top award to Modi a few days ago.

“In February 2021, Prime Minister Modi supplied Dominica with 70,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine – a generous gift which enabled Dominica to extend support to its Caribbean neighbours,” read a statement by the office of the Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.

The award also recognises India’s support for Dominica in healthcare, education and information technology under Modi’s leadership and his role in promoting climate resilience-building initiatives and sustainable development on a global level, it read.

The statement quoted Prime Minister Skerrit as saying that the award is an expression of Dominica’s gratitude for Modi’s solidarity with Dominica and the wider region.

In accepting the offer of the award, Prime Minister Modi emphasised the importance of collaboration in tackling global challenges such as climate change and geopolitical conflicts and affirmed India’s commitment to working alongside Dominica and the Caribbean in addressing these issues, the statement underlined.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Georgetown:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed seven “key pillars” to strengthen ties between India and the Caribbean Community, asserting that New Delhi is “totally committed” to taking these relations to new heights.

Modi made the remarks on Wednesday as he joined leaders from the Caribbean partner countries for the second India-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Summit here.

The prime minister arrived in Guyana earlier in the day — the first visit by an Indian head of the state in more than 50 years.

“PM @narendramodi co-chaired the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit, along with PM Dickon Mitchell of Grenada, the current chair of CARICOM,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a post on X.

Leaders at the summit discussed ways to strengthen ties in areas such as economic cooperation, agriculture and food security, health and pharmaceuticals, and science and innovations.

During the summit, Prime Minister Modi proposed seven key pillars to strengthen ties between India and CARICOM.

The seven pillars listed by Modi also form the acronym C-A-R-I-C-O-M. They are Capacity Building, Agriculture and Food Security, Renewable Energy and Climate Change, Innovation, Technology and Trade, Cricket and Culture, Ocean Economy and Medicine and Healthcare.

Emphasising that relations between India and CARICOM countries are based on “our shared past experiences, our shared present-day needs and our shared aspirations for the future”, Modi said, “India is totally committed to taking these relations to new heights.” “In all our efforts, we have focused on the concerns of the Global South and its priorities,” he said, according to a statement by the MEA.

Modi said, “To promote five Ts – trade, technology, tourism, talent and tradition, an online portal could be made to connect the private sector and stakeholders of all countries.” “India is moving ahead in the SME (small and medium enterprises) sector. During the India-CARICOM meeting last year, we announced a grant of one million dollars for SME sectors. We should focus on its implementation now,” he added.

Prime Minister Modi said, “We will also work to build a forensic centre for the CARICOM region. In India, we have made the iGOT Karmayogi portal to build constant ‘capacity’ for civil servants. This portal has online courses on technology, administration, law and education. A similar portal can be made for the CARICOM countries.”

In his closing remarks, the prime minister said, “I am pleased that India and all our CARICOM friends agree that reforms are necessary in global institutions.” “They need to mould themselves to today’s world and to today’s society. This is the need of the hour. In order to make this a reality, close cooperation with CARICOM and CARICOM’s support are very important,” he added.

CARICOM Heads of Government and the Prime Minister last met in 2019 on the margins of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where they discussed cooperation modalities in renewable energy and climate change through a USD 150 million credit line from India.

During the summit, Guyana President Irfaan Ali said, “(I want to) thank you and the people of India for your selfless attributes when you delivered to this region the first set of vaccines during the COVID pandemic.” Ali also said, “India has an influential voice in the international community. You are launching a device of the Global South. Your recent chairmanship of G20…underscores your commitment to advancing the aspirations of the Global South.” “We commend India’s unwavering commitment to the sustainable development of the region, especially in this intricate and interconnected era of globalisation, it is evident to us that the challenges we face can only be effectively addressed…” he said.

According to the MEA, there are around 3,20,000 people of Indian origin in Guyana.

The CARICOM is a grouping of twenty-one countries: fifteen Member States and six Associate Members, according to its website.

It is home to approximately sixteen million citizens, 60 per cent of whom are under the age of 30, and from the main ethnic groups of Indigenous Peoples, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Chinese, Portuguese and Javanese, the website said.

The prime minister arrived here from Brazil, where he attended the G20 Summit and also met with global leaders, including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Earlier, Modi travelled to Nigeria, where he held bilateral talks with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and interacted with the Indian community.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)