Lagatar24 Desk
Georgetown, April 23: India will collaborate with the South American nation in its growth, according to Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, who met Guyanese Prime Minister Mark Phillips.
The two leaders talked about bilateral cooperation in defence, disaster preparedness and resilience, and energy during their meeting on April 22.
First-time visitor Mr Jaishankar tweeted that he was pleased to meet Prime Minister Phillips and other leaders in Guyana.
“Discussed energy, disaster resilience & preparedness and defence cooperation. India will partner Guyana in its developmental journey,” he tweeted.
Mr Jaishankar stated in another tweet that “Delivered by India” was a growing global infra reality.
In another tweet, the Minister stated that he and the Minister of Public Works, Deodat Indar, visited the East Bank-East Coast Road Linkage Project’s construction site and spoke with workers and senior personnel.
“Impressed by their enthusiasm,” he added.
Prior to that, Mr Jaishankar met with President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharat Jagdeo of Guyana. He also co-chaired the 5th India-Guyana Joint Commission Meeting with his counterpart Hugh Todd and held extensive discussions on issues like infrastructure development, defence collaboration, and agriculture.
In a series of tweets, the Minister stated that his travel to the South American nation was meant to continue the momentum started by President Ali and Vice President Jagdeo’s recent visits.
He noted that the new focus areas agreed to by President Ali and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were energy, health and pharma, development partnership and capacity building, agriculture, innovation, technology and defence and infrastructure which were the drivers of the India-Guyana ties. “Strong economics will complement shared values in taking our partnership to a new level,” he tweeted.
“Addressed the India-Guyana Business Round Table. Appreciate participation of Foreign Minister Hugh Todd, Finance Minister Ashni Singh and Public Works Minister Deodat Indar,” the Minister said.
The Confederation of Indian Industry’s presence, he continued, is evidence of India’s expanding connection with Latin America.
Ramnaresh Sarwan, a cricketer of Indo-Guyanese descent, and Steven Jacobs were also met by the External Affairs Minister.
“In Guyana, cricket is never far away. Good to meet Ramnaresh Sarwan and Steven Jacobs at the India-Guyana Business Round Table,” he tweeted.
Additionally, he had a meeting with Manzoor Nadir, the Speaker of the National Assembly, in the Guyanan Parliament.
