"Will boost economic ties" Guyanese locals look forward to PM Modi's visit

Georgetown [Guyana], November 19 (ANI): Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrival in Guyana, Indian-origin people in the oil-rich Caribbean nation have expressed their enthusiasm about his "historic" state visit. An estimated nearly 40 per cent of the population is of Indian-origin.

PM Modi had in a statement ahead of embarking on a five-day visit said his visit to Guyana, at the invitation of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, will be "the first-ever" of an Indian Prime Minister in over 50 years.

"We will exchange views on giving strategic direction to our unique relationship, which is based on shared heritage, culture and values. I will also pay my respects to one of the oldest Indian diaspora, who migrated more than 185 years ago, and engage a fellow democracy, as I address their Parliament," he said.

Further he said, "During this visit, I will also join leaders from the Caribbean partner countries for the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit. We have stood together through thick and thin. The Summit will enable us to renew historical ties and expand our cooperation into new domains."CARICOM (Caribbean Community and Common Market) is a political and economic union of 15 member states and five associate members in the Caribbean, Americas, and Atlantic Ocean. The organization was founded in 1973 in Chaguaramas, Trinidad.

Pravinchandra Dave, a financial consultant working in Guyana, said that Guyana was excited to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the visit offers several economic opportunities for both the countries because Guyana's currency, Guyanese dollar, has been relatively stable since 12 years.

Dave said that Guyana's neighbouring countries do not have a stable currency, which gives Guyana an edge over them.

"The CARICOM countries, which are the neighbours of Guyana, can provide very little support or help, because they themselves have their own problems. They are a standalone type of economy, depending on one crop or one tourism. Their currencies have depreciated too much. Contrast to that, Guyana economy and currency has remained stable over 12 years. It is amazing to see that this is the only country where the country currency has not depreciated and that is a great boost for the country," he said.

Dave told ANI that such a high-profile visit has not taken place in Guyana before.

"Guyana is really excited to have Prime Minister Modi in Guyana. No Prime Minister of India or President of India ever had been to Guyana, as far as I recall. Not only any third world country, either US, UK or Canada, their chief has come over here," he said.

Dave added that PM Modi has created an image of Indians in a way that makes them feel proud of themselves.

"PM Modi has created an image of the Indians, okay, and Indian culture in such a big way that every Indian feels proud of our culture and our religion and our economy and our finance because of PM Modi. Prior to the arrival of PM Modi on the scene, no, it was not so high because I have seen Guyana before Prime Minister Modi and after him. It has made a huge change," he said.

At a briefing ahead of PM Modi's visit, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (East) Jaideep Mazumdar said that while India aims to partner with Guyana on energy-related issues, the scope of cooperation is much broader.

"Guyana is, as you know, on the cusp of an economic and developmental transformation with major discovery of oil and gas. We hope to partner them in a number of fields including in hydrocarbons, but also in areas of healthcare, education and defence. It is the fastest growing economy in the world and we will have opportunities for partnering them in diverse fields," said Mazumdar.

Meanwhile Pravinchandra Dave said, "Now it offers an immense opportunity for us to make investment in Guyana from India as well as establish some technical, financial, managerial collaboration with India, which can benefit both the countries. And one more opportunity we can have is lot many technician can get the job opportunity in Guyana. Because jobs are available in Guyana, but there are no people available. Primarily because the Guyana was considered a third world country."He also said that Guyana is too far from India, and there are no direct flights. So, if an airline takes initiative to have direct flights between both the countries, traveling would become smoother.

"The proximity of Guyana from India is very far. You know, either you have to come from UK or from US. That's a problem. If any airline takes an initiative to have a direct link between Guyana and India or via any Gulf country, it will be of immense help. But I can tell you in short that there are tremendous opportunities, business opportunities, medical tourism opportunities, the technical cooperation opportunities, and it is immense. Actually, it is an unexplored country," he said.

Dave said that people in Guyana are excited for PM Modi's visit, and the visit would be remembered for years to come.

"We are excited. Everybody wants to see him, everybody wants to meet him, everybody wants to have the photograph with him. We know it is not possible, but it will be a great pleasure and it will be a great milestone in the history of the Guiana-India relationship and PM visit will be remembered for years to come," he said.

In 2023 , the Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali was the chief guest at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest honour for persons of Indian origin. Following this in February 2023, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo also visited India.

"Prime Minister Mark Phillips also visited in February this year. There have been Ministerial visits of Agriculture and Health, and the Chief of Defence Staff was here last week. External Affairs Minister visited Guyana in April 2023 and met the entire leadership at that time," the MEA Secretary (east) said.

Meanwhile, during his November 19-23 visit to Guyana, PM Modi will have delegation level talks with President Irfaan Ali. He will also address the National Assembly of Guyana and he will also address the diaspora.

"The Indian diaspora in Guyana arrived in 1838, so it is more than 180 years since there has been an Indian presence in Guyana. Today, roughly 40 per cent of the population of 800,000 is of Indian origin and they are a vital link between our two countries," Mazumdar said.

the MEA official said that India has a long-standing developmental partnership with Guyana in the fields of health, in connectivity, in renewable power, in water.

The GRSE built an ocean-going ferry which India supplied to Guyana last year and India also supplied two HAL-228 aircrafts under a line of credit to Guyana this year.

Solar lighting for about 30,000 Indigenous communities has been provided to 30,000 households and we have so far had 800 ITEC alumni from Guyana who have studied in India. "In fact, President His Excellency Mohamed Irfaan Ali himself is also an alumni of the ITEC fellowships," Jaideep Mazumdar said in press briefing last week.

"Guyana is, as you know, on the cusp of an economic and developmental transformation with major discovery of oil and gas. We hope to partner them in a number of fields including in hydrocarbons, but also in areas of healthcare, education and defence. It is the fastest growing economy in the world and we will have opportunities for partnering them in diverse fields," hesaid.

In Guyana, Prime Minister will also co-chair the second India-CARICOM Summit along with the Prime Minister of Grenada who is the current Chair of CARICOM in the presence of leaders of all CARICOM countries.

This is only the second Summit between India and CARICOM and the first in a CARICOM country. The only other Summit that was held was in 2019 on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "This is a significant Summit and we expect to have a very rich agenda of cooperation with CARICOM during this Summit," Mazumdar said"We recently had a Joint Commission Meeting at my level with CARICOM countries in which we identified a whole range of areas on which discussions will be carried forward during the Summit. These will be examined in detail and areas of cooperation identified in areas such as healthcare, ICT including digital public infrastructure, connectivity, skilling and capacity building, technology and innovation, education especially in STEM and higher education, and renewable energy," Mazumdar said.

"The CARICOM countries have been a strong partner of India in the Global South and have participated in every iteration of the Voice of the Global South Summits and we will carry forward that dialogue during the second India-CARICOM Summit" he added. (ANI)