WHY ISN’T T&T BOOSTING ECONOMIC TIES WITH INDIA?

“INDIA has much to offer T&T,” said a headline in the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian newspaper upon the return of regional journalists who were given insights into the South Asian giant.

The newspaper told of vast opportunities in various sectors, from pharmaceuticals to information technology to energy.

But that’s a mere sketch of India’s tremendous capacity and its stated commitment to assisting Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean territories.

The Narendra Modi administration has repeatedly asserted a will to collaborate in such fields as agriculture, renewable energy, transport, engineering, textiles, and through investments, transfer of technology, and other meaningful means.

The Indian authorities have pledged aid in capacity building, project management, and an obligation to people-to-people contact from trade to culture.

The Indian Government provided Covid-19 vaccines to Caricom countries a couple of years, ago, and previously assisted hurricane-ravaged islands.

Even prior, Modi gave a grant to the Caribbean for community projects and offered a US $150 million line of credit.

India, now the world’s fifth largest economy, has further sharpened its worldview with Modi as leader of G7, the globe’s largest economies.

He speaks of equitable world development, and has vowed to use his presidency “to voice the views of the global south on these important issues.”

In the region, Guyana is unique in capturing India’s generous spirit and passion for participation.

Hard-driving President Dr. Irfaan Ali has led discussions with Modi and his relevant line ministers and is also actively wooing private investors to his burgeoning economy.

“The opportunities are enormous,” Ali recently told a trade fair in India, with Guyana building an economy “that will be functional, sustainable, highly competitive and resilient.”

He was emphatic: “Time to invest is now; Indian companies should identify a (Guyanese) partner and network with them.”

Ali’s outreach has hit fertile soil with the Modi Administration keen on boosting bilateral relations with developing countries that are fellow former British colonies.

Over the past few weeks, the Prime Minister has hosted Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, the latter seeking widespread Indian investments in Guyana’s mushrooming energy sector.

Technical teams are working on extensive crude oil trade, and large-scale ventures in exploration and operation.

Action man Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs and a former top diplomat, is due to visit Georgetown within a few days.

Ali and his aides are likely to also do a hard sell on tourism, forestry, agro-processing, infrastructure, and overall industrial development.

“We are looking at attracting investments from Indian companies,” the Guyanese leader has said forthrightly.

This is happening when several Indian corporations are enjoying historic profits and expansion in the western world.

There is now a record number of Indian billionaires – 169 – according to Forbes’ latest listing.

In all of this, there are recurring thematic questions.

Why isn’t Trinidad and Tobago aggressively seeking increased trade, investments, technical support, and other distinct forms of support from an economy worth US $3.4 trillion?

Why is T&T indifferent to engagement on food and energy security, climate change, and broad-ranged economic matters?

Both countries have longstanding trade agreements, but T&T has shown little zeal in boosting economic relations, according to well-placed sources.

While Indian companies are bidding to construct an oil refinery in Guyana, the local Petrotrin plant remains idle and there are no efforts to make it part of a regional energy solution.

Sources speculate that T&T’s close alliance with China – it was the first Caricom country to sign the Road and Belt Initiative – could be a reason for its damp relations with New Delhi.

Others wonder whether the divisively ethnic nature of T&T’s politics could be a factor.

Whatever the reason, there have been no high-level discussions, trade missions, investment talks, or other tangible ties between a struggling Caribbean nation and one of the world’s most formidable economies.

The people of T&T are the obvious losers with the absence of a purposeful alliance with the world’s new economic tiger.