WHAT T&T IS MISSING OUT FROM INDIA

and how Guyana and Suriname are benefiting

GUYANA and Suriname are on a busy path of building trade and other relations with India.

Guyana’s and Suriname’s Presidents Dr. Irfaan Ali and Chandrikapersad Santokhi respectively are strengthening economic ties and boosting friendships with the Asian powerhouse.

At the recent Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention and subsequent trade and investment conferences, Ali and Santokhi extolled India’s support of their countries and made major leaps in boosting economic bonds.

Guyana has gained from India’s robust infrastructure, technology, investment, trade, sport, and water sector, President Ali stated.

“India is a world leader in developing talent; we have learned from India,” he said.

He heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing “a healing hand to the world during Covid-19” by the provision of vaccines.

President Santokhi hailed his host country on those and other crucial matters, and acclaimed India’s successful and progressive health and financial sectors.

“The question is, how we could benefit from this wealth of knowledge,” Suriname’s leader said.

Modi held separate bilateral discussions with Ali and Santokhi on trade and investments in pharmaceuticals, digital economy, the energy sector, the textile industry, defence, agriculture and capacity building.

Traditional ayurvedic medication is also a subject of interest.

Ali held talks with Modi and Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on attracting investments into Guyana’s booming hydrocarbon sector.

He later said: “Over the next three to four months, you would see a massive expansion of Indian investment footprint in Guyana.”

India is the world’s third-largest importer of oil, and is earmarked to expand its purchases from Guyana.

Modi has also launched an initiative to assist small islands and other vulnerable countries from the destructive impact of climate change.

“It is a matter of life and death to them,” he said.

“It is a threat to their existence.”

The aid would come partly through building resilient infrastructure.

Guyana and Suriname are generally set to reap significant gains from their close ties with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

Some other Caricom countries are also seeking to build relations with India, which is positioning itself to become a developed nation within 25 years.

There are discussions about setting up a diaspora fund, through which India would expand support in culture, language studies and other matters of universal interest.

All of this is taking place at an opportune time.

Modi has just taken over leadership of the G20, the group of the world’s largest economies, and the Prime Minister is determined to be an agent of positive change.

He is aiming to build ties between east and west, north and south.

India has transitioned into a middle-income social market economy, the fifth-largest by Gross Domestic Product and the third-largest by purchasing power.

Modi has been praised by countries around the world for his dynamic leadership.

United States President Joe Biden said India has proven that democracies can deliver to the world, and he cited the Covid-19 generous vaccine aid.

“Economically and morally, India took huge steps in its development and it certainly has a bright future,” Russian leader Vladimir Putin said.

UK lawmaker Lord Karan Bilimoria echoed a common theme in terming Modi “one of the most powerful persons on the planet.”

Trinidad and Tobago has not improved diplomatic, economic and other relations with the fast-growing India, which is utilising its accelerating strength and influence to reach out globally.

Under Modi, the country has developed a greater fondness for diaspora nations, matched with an outreach of tangible support.

T&T could gain in energy, information technology, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, culture, climate change, technical aid and other relevant and pressing matters.

While Guyana, Suriname and other countries are benefitting from purposeful ties with the Asian powerhouse, there are no such overtures from Port of Spain, in spite of T&T’s declining quality of life.

Trinidad and Tobago may well be tossing away a golden chance to vault its economy and people forward.