CARICOM trying to additional deepen relations with India
The incoming Chair of the Caribbean Group (CARICOM) Council on International and Group Relations, Kamina Johnson Smith, mentioned she stays assured that Friday’s discussions between India and CARICOM officers “will likely be fruitful and mirror the spirit of cooperation that defines CARICOM-India relations”.
Addressing the CARICOM-India Ministerial assembly, Johnson Smith, who can also be Jamaica’s International Affairs and International Commerce Minister, mentioned that the inaugural CARICOM-India summit was held in September 2019, setting “the tone for deepened political engagement”.
She instructed the assembly, which is being attended by India’s Minister of International Affairs, Dr. S. Jaishankar, that “it has been, and remains to be our accountability as ministers, to perpetuate the momentum generated from that pivotal assembly”.
She recalled that over the last engagement held within the margins of the 77th Session of the United Nations Common Meeting, ” we expressed our intention to strengthen the collaboration between us”.
She mentioned since then India has taken the Presidency of the G20 underneath the theme of “One Earth, One Household, One Future,’ affirming the worth of all life and the interconnectedness on Earth and throughout the Universe.
“CARICOM member states take your Presidency, the messaging of your theme and this engagement as a wonderful context inside which to develop on our earlier discussions and to determine new areas for enhanced collaboration within the multilateral sphere, to advertise our mutual pursuits as creating states,” Johnson Smith mentioned.
She mentioned the CARICOM grouping has benefited from its cooperation with India in lots of areas, together with by means of collaboration with the Indian Technical and Financial Cooperation (ITEC) the place “now we have engaged in capacity-building initiatives and programmes in well being, agriculture, catastrophe administration, fisheries, info and communication know-how (ICT), and diplomacy”.
She mentioned underneath the precept of Vaccine Maitri, India was among the many first nations to donate vaccines to CARICOM throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, “thus demonstrating its dedication to the welfare of creating nations and additional, to equitable entry to vaccines. India’s generosity helped Caribbean International locations deal with an unprecedented world disaster and saved Caribbean lives”.
She mentioned that whereas she regretted that the CARICOM-India Joint Fee couldn’t meet throughout the go to of the Indian Exterior Affairs Minister, “we’re conscious that it’s meant to satisfy biennially and I provide assurances that our officers will suggest new dates.
“CARICOM nations welcome the chance to overview current technical cooperation and discover new initiatives to pursue collectively our improvement priorities,” Johnson Smith mentioned, noting that the engagement on Friday “additionally provides us time to mirror on the widespread values shared by CARICOM and India, particularly our commitments to democracy, sustainable improvement and multilateralism.
“These ideas present a basis for co-operation between the Caribbean Group and India in worldwide fora. We share a agency understanding that conventional improvement financing frameworks don’t meet all of the wants of the creating South; and that local weather change presents an existential menace to our societies, acknowledging the realities of a world disaster the place Small Island and low-lying coastal Growing States (SIDS) are paying the value for the development of developed states.”
Johnson Smith mentioned that partnerships with bigger nations and economies, reminiscent of India, are important to amplify the considerations of the Caribbean Group and different SIDS on the worldwide stage.
“We all know that within the context of the G20, India has sought to spotlight the considerations of small weak states reminiscent of ours, together with on meals safety. We have now each religion, that this may proceed. With solidarity and collective motion, we are able to pave a approach ahead to safe prosperity for future generations,” she added.
In the meantime, CARICOM Secretary Common, Dr. Carla Barnett, mentioned the 15-member regional integration grouping attaches nice worth to the bonds of friendship which were cast with India through the years.
“India has remained a significant accomplice of the Group because the area established formal diplomatic relations in 1997. Subsequently, regular progress has been made by means of common political engagements and structured improvement cooperation preparations,” she mentioned.
CMC/