Govt discusses areas of cooperation with Indian External Affairs Minister

– collaborations on health, energy & agriculture dominate talks

With the aim of further strengthening bilateral ties between the two nations, the Guyana Government on Saturday held discussions with Indian External Affairs Minister, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, on traditional and new areas of cooperation.
President Dr Irfaan Ali and a high-level Government team met with Minister Jaishankar and his delegation at the Office of the President on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive.

According to a brief statement from the Office of the President, the President told the visiting Minister that Guyana looks forward to a long, sustained and strong relationship with India.
During the engagement, discussions also focused on areas of cooperation.
Meanwhile, following Saturday’s meeting, Minister Jaishankar tweeted that he was delighted to meet the Guyanese Government officials.
“[We] discussed initiatives in agriculture, trade and investments, health & pharma, energy including renewables, defence, innovation and technology, tourism and development partnership.”
He added that they also “Agreed that opportunities should be more effectively explored through deeper contacts, including business interactions… Also noted the enthusiasm of President Irfaan Ali for Millets after his visit to India.”
According to Minister Jaishankar, the recent visits of President Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo to India earlier this year have provided new momentum for the ties between the two countries.

“Natural to discuss cricket on a visit to Guyana – the land of Rohan Kanhai and Lance Gibbs,” the Indian External Affairs Minister added in one of his tweets.
The visiting delegation was accompanied by India’s High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr KJ Srinivasa, at Saturday’s engagement.
On the Government’s side, President Ali and VP Jagdeo were joined by Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh; Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd; Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill; Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat; Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag; Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar and the Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud, at the meeting.
During his visit, Minister Jaishankar also held bilateral talks with Minister Todd. Earlier in the day, the vising Indian diplomat participated in a tree planting exercise to mark World Earth Day 2023 which is being observed under the theme “Invest in Our Planet”.
However, later in the day, the two Foreign Ministers also co-chaired the meeting of the Guyana-India Joint Commission during which the two sides discussed deepening cooperation in the areas of education, health, agriculture, investment, infrastructure, and energy.
Minister Jaishankar arrived in Guyana on Thursday evening and was welcomed by his Guyanese counterpart.
On Friday, the Indian External Affairs Minister met with Secretary General of the Caribbean Community, Dr Carla Barnett, during which they exchanged views for intensifying India-Caricom ties in traditional as well as new areas of cooperation.
He also co-chaired the Fourth Caricom-India Ministerial Meeting in Georgetown with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica, Senator Kamina Johnson, who is the incoming chair of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR).
In a tweet on Friday, Minister Jaishankar said during the ministerial meeting they “…discussed our wide-ranging sectoral cooperation, including in trade & economy; agriculture & food security; health & pharma; energy & renewables; infrastructure, ICT & e-governance; development partnership & capacity building; higher education; culture and [people-to-people] domains.”
Jaishankar added that they also exchanged views on vital issues of climate change and disaster resilience; counter terrorism; reformed multilateralism, and closer cooperation at multilateral forums. He said too that an agreement was made to follow up steps taken to further cooperation, including holding the second Joint Commission Meeting later this year.
Later on Friday evening, Minister Jaishankar and his delegation were invited to a dinner engagement hosted by Vice President Jagdeo.
Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips and other senior Government officials also attended the event.