Indian Pres calls for diversified bilateral trade in meeting with VP Jagdeo

– Jadeo says Guyana to tap into India’s technical skills for local oil & gas industry

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo continued his official visit to India by calling on President Shrimati Droupadi Murmu, who wants to see bilateral relations between the two countries diversified.
The meeting was held on Friday morning at the official Presidential Residence – Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo with India President Shrimati Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Friday

According to a statement from her office, President Murmu said India attaches very high importance to its relations with Guyana.
Guyana has been a homeland to Indian brothers and sisters for the last 180 years. Even though the two countries are separated geographically by a large distance, it was recognised in the missive that both have many aspects in common such as a colonial past, predominantly agricultural and rural-based economies, and multicultural societies.
Currently, trade between India and Guyana is on an upward trajectory. In the 2021-22 period, bilateral trade between the two countries witnessed a growth of over 300 per cent despite the fallout from the pandemic.
The statement also indicated that President Murmu “…stressed the need to further diversify the bilateral trade.”
The President further noted, according to the statement, that development partnership is a major pillar of India-Guyana relations. She was also elated to learn that more than 640 Guyanese Government officials have been trained under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme so far.
President Murmu expressed confidence that VP Jagdeo’s visit would “further deepen historical bonds of friendship between India and Guyana.”
The Guyanese Vice President arrived in India earlier this week for an official visit from February 20 to 25, 2023. He is accompanied by Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh and a high-level Government and business delegation from Guyana.
On Thursday, Jagdeo met with his counterpart, Indian Vice President Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar. The two officials agreed to continue working on strengthening the bilateral partnership in various sectors including petroleum and natural gas, agriculture, agro-processing, education, healthcare, capacity building, ICT, renewable energy, and climate change.
The Guyanese official also met with several Ministers of the Indian Government including Dr Mansukh Mandaviya – Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Chemicals and Fertilisers, who said “Wonderful meeting with Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, Vice President of Guyana. Discussed various issues of bilateral importance in the health sector including the creation of manufacturing hubs of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostic & handholding, and training of the medical workforce.”
Also on Friday, the Vice President met with India’s Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs & Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri. After the engagement he said: “A very productive and fruitful meeting to further cement the ties between our two countries with Vice President of Guyana HE Dr Bharrat Jagdeo & Guyanese Finance Minister HE Dr Ashni Singh in New Delhi today.”
During his visit, VP Jagdeo also participated in the opening of the World Sustainable Development Summit held by TERI (The Energy Research Institute) in New Delhi from February 22 to 24.
In addition, the Guyanese Vice President also had an interview with the Indian news channel – WION, during which he disclosed that Guyana is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would see the country benefiting from India’s vast technical skills in the oil and gas sector.
He noted that the signing of the MoU between the two nations would enhance cooperation in the energy sector beyond crude oil exports.
“We’re trying to build the architecture for a broader look at the energy sector and enhance cooperation between Guyana and India. So, we’re expecting shortly to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that would go beyond just the export of crude, but we’ll look at the energy sector and its development in its totality. And we are also looking to learn quite a bit from India in that process as we build out our industry,” he stated.
According to the Vice President, Guyana’s petroleum sector is a fledgeling industry with oil production only starting in 2019. However, he explained that the industry is moving at a rapid pace with production to steeply ramp up by 2027 to over a million barrels per day. This, he noted, is almost 20 per cent of India’s daily use.
“So, we are working to ensure that the sector develops in a manner where the oil companies bear their share of responsibilities both from an environmental perspective and a fiscal perspective and that the industry is developed in an orderly way. So that is why India’s assistance and its great technical skills [will be tapped into by Guyana.] You have a lot of smart people here who can help us in defining the growth of the industry but not just on oil, on the gas sector as we move to develop a gas policy and to start utilising the gas resources and then in terms of environmental management, building capacity across the country. So we are looking forward with great excitement to the development of a strong relationship with India on energy-related matters,” Jagdeo stated.