At the invitation of President Irfaan Ali, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi will pay a State Visit to Guyana from November 19 to 21, 2024, the Office of the President announced yesterday.
During his State Visit, Prime Minister Modi will engage in summit-level bilateral discussions with President Ali. He will also co-chair the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit in Georgetown, Guyana, alongside the Prime Minister of Grenada, Dickon Mitchell and President Ali.
Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to address Parliament.
Also on his agenda is an address to the Indian community and the Indian diaspora in Guyana.
Additionally, the PM will offer a floral tribute at the Mahatma Gandhi statue at the Promenade Gardens in Georgetown, which was installed in 1969 during the Mahatma Gandhi centenary celebrations.
He will also visit the Indian Arrival Monument in the Indian Monument Gardens, which commemorates the arrival of the first ship carrying Indian indentured labourers to the Caribbean.
Modi’s visit here will be the first by an Indian PM since 1968’s trip by Indira Gandhi.
Meanwhile, as plans intensify for the visit, CARICOM and India have renewed their commitment to bilateral co-operation. The CARICOM-India Joint Commission met virtually on November 6.
A release yesterday from the CARICOM Secretariat said that it was co-chaired by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign of Affairs of Dominica, Barbara Bailey, and the Vice Minister within the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Jaideep Mazumdar. Representatives of CARICOM Member States, Institutions of the Community, the CARICOM Secretariat, and various departments of the Government of India participated in the meeting.
The release said that the Joint Commission reviewed the entire spectrum of relations between India and CARICOM including economic and commercial, agriculture, health and pharmaceuticals, energy and infrastructure, technology and innovation, human resource and capacity building, culture and people-to-people exchange.
“Both sides deliberated on strengthening economic cooperation, enhancing trade and fostering a robust partnership in the areas of education, digital public infrastructure, development cooperation, renewable energy, science and technology, climate change adaptation, disaster management and resilient infrastructure”, the release said.
In her remarks during the opening, Bailey noted that India has been a longstanding friend of the Community having established diplomatic relations with member countries as far back as 1962.
The Co-Chair expressed appreciation for India’s support for the convening of the Joint Commission, which met previously in 2015.
India’s Vice Minister Mazumdar also underscored the significance of the meeting in advancing preparations for upcoming engagements, which he said will add momentum to CARICOM-India relations.
The meeting of the CARICOM-India Joint Commission comes on the heels of an India-CARICOM Foreign Ministerial Meeting held on 27 September 2024 in New York.
