Jaishankar holds bilaterals with Jamaican counterparts, others at India-CARICOM meet

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar co-chaired the 4th India-CARICOM ministerial meeting with his Jamaican counterpart Kaminaj Smith here in Guyana's capital and discussed a range of issues, including trade, climate change and counterterrorism.

Jaishankar also had separate bilateral meetings on Friday with counterparts from Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Grenada, and Barbados.

During the bilateral meetings, the minister touched upon various issues including expanding cooperation, trade, climate change, digital transformation, health domains, agriculture, and the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

"Good to meet Dr Amery Browne, Foreign Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Spoke about taking forward our development partnership focusing on digital transformation and health domains. Will continue our cooperation at multilateral forums," the minister tweeted.

"So nice to meet Foreign Minister Dr Denzil Douglas of St. Kitts and Nevis on the sidelines of the India-CARICOM meeting. Noted our resonance in agriculture and digital domains. Conveyed that India will always voice the concerns of the Global South," Jaishankar said in a string of tweets.

"Glad to meet FM of St. Vincent and Grenadines Keisal Peters today (Friday). Appreciated SVG's interest in Millets. Also discussed our ongoing projects and further expanding of cooperation," he added in a separate tweet.

"Happy to meet FM Joseph Andall of Grenada. Discussed advancing our development partnership. Also reaffirmed our belief in Reformed Multilateralism," another tweet said.

"Glad to meet with Barbados Foreign Minister Kerrie Symmonds. Exchanged views on working together in domains of renewable energy, health and skills."

The minister also had a bilateral meeting with the co-chair of the India-CARICOM meeting Kaminaj Smith and "discussed taking forward cooperation in training and development partnership", he tweeted.

"Agreed on the importance of business-to-business exchanges for stronger ties," he added.

The minister also met Bahamas Parliamentary Secretary Jamahl Strachen, an Indian alumnus, and discussed International Solar Alliance (ISA), Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), as well as the UNSC reforms, he tweeted.

Jaishankar began his nine-day trip to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic on Friday by meeting his counterpart from Surinam Albert Ramdin here.

"Co-chaired 4th India-CARICOM Ministerial Meeting with Jamaican FM @kaminajsmith at @CARICOMorg HQ. Thank FM Guyana Hugh Todd for inviting us all," he tweeted.

He said he appreciated the perspectives of his counterparts from the Caribbean nations of Surinam, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Grenada, and representatives from Belize and Bahamas.

"Discussed our wide-ranging sectoral cooperation, including in Trade & Economy; Agriculture & Food Security; Health & Pharma; Energy & Renewables; Infrastructure, ICT & eGovernance; Development Partnership & Capacity Building; Higher Education; Culture and P2P domains," he tweeted.

"Also exchanged views on vital issues of Climate Change & Disaster Resilience; Counter Terrorism; Reformed Multilateralism and closer cooperation at multilateral forums. Agreed on follow-up steps, including holding the second Joint Commission Meeting this year," Jaishankar said.

Earlier on Friday, Jaishankar also met Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Dr Carla Natalie Barnett and exchanged views on intensifying India-CARICOM ties in traditional as well as new areas of cooperation.

CARICOM is an intergovernmental organisation that is a political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) throughout the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean.