India and Guyana: Partners for Development

Dear Editor,
India will indeed be a mighty partner for Guyana in economics and trade. It is one of the ancient civilizations and nations from which came a major portion of the Guyanese population, and it has an interest in being Guyana’s longstanding partner.
His Excellency President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, with a Guyanese Team comprising of members of the Private Sector, recently made a visit to India to create relationships in industry and commerce. Some monumental achievements were signed into various Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs). During this historic state visit to India, Guyana developed numerous collaborations in several areas, such as Agriculture, Technology, Security, Oil and Gas, Education, Manufacturing, Human Resource Development, Climate Change, Health Care etc. This state visit also saw the President of Guyana receiving a number of high, noble Indian honours, inclusive of the Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy and Management Studies from the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in Delhi, and the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, the highest civilian honour the Indian Government grants to people of Indian origin in the diaspora, for his contribution to politics and community welfare.
I welcome these partnerships with open arms, for India is the world’s largest democracy, and is recognised as such globally. It is also the world’s largest English-speaking nation.

Industrialisation
India is ranked as the second most industrialised country in the world (PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Report). It boasts an array of industries, factories, universities, and a most extraordinary tradition, culture and history that have passed through many generations and ages. The wonder and power of India could confuse the human imagination, and is nothing less than the power and industry of the citizens of “Bharat” (India).
India is a free market without much governmental control, as is Guyana. Guyana is miniscule in contrast to India in population and size. India being a behemoth. “India is the motherland of our race and Sanskrit, the mother of Europe’s languages. She is the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through Buddha, of the ideal embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village communities, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all” (The Eminent Philosopher Will Durant, India – Cradle of Cultures).
Her contribution to the field of Mathematics involves the value of pi, which was first calculated by Budhayana, who also explained the Pythagoras Theorem concept taken by the Greeks. Trigonometry, Calculus and the Number System first began in ancient India. Chess, the game of wisdom and mastery, was created in India. It is also believed that Surgery began in India 2600 years ago by Sushruta, who is considered to be the father of Surgery (Essay: The greatness of India).
The Indian gene code, “if one may say so” is a genetic powerhouse which has managed to stay in strength in spite of invasion upon invasion by other world powers. This speaks of the enduring quality of the Indian personality (RK).

Significant MoUs and Projects
First, cooperation in agriculture between Guyana and India for the exclusive production of millets in honour of the United Nations declaring the year 2023 as the International Year of Millet (IYOM). This cooperation facilitates increased global production; better farming techniques, such as crop rotation; and promotes millets as an alternative food source in times of increasing demand for vegetarian foods, as it contributes to a healthy diet, and land conservation in terms of its cultivation. It is primarily grown and consumed largely by countries in the subcontinents of Asia and Africa.
I must make mention here of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association and NBR Cooling Systems Pvt Ltd (NBR of India) at the end of the Global Investors Summit in New Delhi, India. This agreement will identify and engage Guyanese companies, or form consortiums to establish a manufacturing/assembly plant in the engine cooling (automotive sector) of Guyana. NBR has committed to allocating approximately US$ 1 million for this venture. Such a partnership would revolutionise the automotive cooling sector in Guyana and the Caribbean Region.
Dr. Rosh Khan (II), the lead representative of the Guyanese Firm ACE Professional Services and Business Development Consultancy, also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian company Squadron with the goal of recruiting skilled Indian nationals for highly specialised roles to support the rapidly expanding oil and gas economic sector in Guyana.
In addition, The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would allow for cooperation and understanding to promote bilateral trade and investment, as well as business relations between India and Guyana. Dr. Rosh Khan, Councillor, GCCI, and Mr Manish Singhal, Deputy Secretary, FICCI, were the signatories to this agreement.
Finally, MoU between the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) and Invest India was signed at the Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi, India. An agreement which focuses on the strengthening of investment/economic relations between the two countries. It allows for foreign direct investment, and creates a framework to promote the exchange of experience and relevant information between India and Guyana.
Invest India is the leading investment agency in the world. It is the official investment promotion and facilitation agency of the Government of India, commissioned to facilitate investments in the country.
These economic and trade relations between Guyana and India will further strengthen the ties between the two countries. Guyana’s future with India is bright, as it forges ahead in the new millennium.

Sincerely,
Hajji, Dr Roshan Khan