India wants more influence in the Caribbean

Vice President Ashwin Adhin on Wednesday attended the first IndiaCaricom meeting on the margins of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The focus of the meeting was to strengthen the ties between India and the region. For the first time ever the head of states discussed ways of addressing climate change. Suriname is one of the countries that is being threatened the most by the rising sea level and therefore needs support to finance mitigation measures.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired the meeting with the member states of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom).

During the meeting, PM Modi announced a USD 14 million grant for community development projects in the Caribbean and another USD 150 million Line of Credit for solar, renewable energy and climate change related projects. The meeting deliberated on the strengthening the political and institutional dialogue processes, boosting economic cooperation, increasing trade and investment and fostering greater and more robust people-topeople relations. Modi also laid emphasis on partnering with Caricom member states in capacity building, development assistance and cooperation in disaster management and resilience. Modi also expressed his condolences on the destruction caused by Hurricane Dorian in the region and the worst hit island of Bahamas to which India has provided an immediate financial assistance of USD1 million. Antigua and Barbuda which was also hit by hurricane violence in 2017 and which is still recovering also received financial assistance of USD1 million. PM Modi recently appointed a new Indian High Commissioner to Caricom, Dr KJ Srinivasa. The Caribbean heads of states expressed their full support for the new Indian High Commissioner to Caricom. The Surinamese delegation will reportedly attend more high level meetings in New York. VP Adhin recently highlighted Suriname’s healthcare sector when he addressed the Universal Health Coverage. He talked about the reforms that have been implemented in the health policy and which are mentioned in the Development Plan 2017-2021. VP Adhin represents President Desi Bouterse who could not leave for New York due to the fact that he has to give the annual speech on September 30. The UNGA started on September 24 and will be concluded on September 30.