Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here last night to a 21-gun salute.
After his plane touched down at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri he appeared at the top of the stairs and clasped his hands together in the traditional Indian greeting of namaste.
He then strode down the centre of the flight of stairs and received bouquets of flowers from schoolchildren.
Modi, 74, was then greeted by President Irfaan Ali and the two warmly embraced. Modi was then introduced to Prime Minister Mark Phillips.
He inspected a guard of honour and also met Cabinet ministers. The Indian Prime Minister then travelled to the Marriott Hotel where he was received by President Ali and introduced to a number of CARICOM Prime Ministers including Barbados’ Mia Mottley and Grenada’s Dickon Mitchell. A brief cultural presentation followed. He also received the key to the city from the Mayor of Georgetown, Alfred Mentore.
This morning both President Ali and PM Modi will deliver remarks at State House after which meetings between CARICOM and India will begin.
Modi is to address Parliament and is also to have a meeting at the National Cultural Centre with Guyanese among other events. During his three-day visit.
The only sitting Indian Prime Minister to have visited Guyana before was Indira Gandhi in 1968.
A statement yesterday from CARICOM said that fourteen CARICOM countries will meet PM Modi in Georgetown today in a Summit deemed historic, as the first stand-alone Meeting between the Heads of Government of the two sides to be convened in a CARICOM Member State.
The engagement is expected to strengthen an already strong relationship in areas such as economic cooperation, agriculture and food security and health and pharmaceuticals.
The Opening Ceremony will feature remarks by the Chair of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Grenada, Mitchell; President Ali, PM Modi and CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr. Carla Barnett.
CARICOM Heads of Government and India’s Prime Minister last met in 2019 in the margins of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) where they discussed cooperation modalities in renewable energy and climate change via a US$150 million credit line from India.
Commenting on the significance of the Summit, Assistant Secretary-General for Foreign and Community Relations at the CARICOM Secretariat, Elizabeth Solomon said “India is an important global actor. Our Member States are keen to meet Prime Minister Modi and develop deeper technical relationships, deepen the relationship in terms of advocacy for small states in the international arena, and strengthen people to people ties.”
CARICOM Member States have had longstanding friendships with India, however the process of formalising ties with CARICOM as a bloc and India began in 1985 when an Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation was signed. In 2003, a CARICOM delegation led by the K.D. Knight, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica and then Chairman of the Community Council visited India, and signed an Agreement to establish a Standing Joint Commission on Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination between CARICOM and India.
At the first meeting of CARICOM-India Foreign Ministers in 2005 in the margins of the Sixteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government Conference, the Foreign Ministers rationalised possible areas of cooperation.
The First Meeting of the CARICOM-India Joint Commission which was held in June 2015 identified areas of cooperation as agribusiness development, food security, health, small business development, marine development, fisheries and disaster management.
