GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — Incoming chair of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Council on Foreign and Community Relations, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith says she remains confident that Friday’s discussions between India and Caricom officials “will be fruitful and reflect the spirit of cooperation that defines Caricom-India relations”.

Addressing the Caricom-India Ministerial Meeting, Johnson Smith, who is also Jamaica’s foreign affairs and foreign trade minister, said that the inaugural Caricom-India summit was held in September 2019, setting “the tone for deepened political engagement”.

She told the meeting, which is being attended by India’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr S Jaishankar, that “it has been, and is still our responsibility as ministers to perpetuate the momentum generated from that pivotal meeting”.

She recalled that during the last engagement held in the margins of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, “we expressed our intention to strengthen the collaboration between us”.

She said since then India has taken the presidency of the G20 under the theme of: ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’, affirming the value of all life and the interconnectedness on Earth and within the universe.

“Caricom member states take your presidency, the messaging of your theme, and this engagement as an excellent context within which to expand on our earlier discussions and to identify new areas for enhanced collaboration in the multilateral sphere to promote our mutual interests as developing states,” Johnson Smith said.

She said the Caricom grouping has benefited from its cooperation with India in many areas, including through collaboration with the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme through which “we have engaged in capacity-building projects and programmes in health, agriculture, disaster management, fisheries, information and communication technology (ICT), and diplomacy”.

She said under the principle of Vaccine Maitri, India was among the first countries to donate vaccines to Caricom during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, “thus demonstrating its commitment to the welfare of developing nations and further, to equitable access to vaccines. India’s generosity helped Caribbean countries address an unprecedented global crisis and saved lives”.

She said that while she regretted that the Caricom-India Joint Commission could not meet during the visit of the Indian external affairs minister, “we are aware that it is intended to meet biennially, and I offer assurances that our officials will propose new dates”.

She added: “Caricom countries welcome the opportunity to review existing technical cooperation and explore new initiatives to pursue jointly our development priorities.” She added that the engagement on Friday “also gives us time to reflect on the common values shared by Caricom and India, namely our commitments to democracy, sustainable development and multilateralism.

“These principles provide a foundation for cooperation between the Caribbean Community and India in international fora. We share a firm understanding that traditional development financing frameworks do not meet all the needs of the developing South and that climate change presents an existential threat to our societies, acknowledging the realities of a global crisis where small island and low-lying coastal developing states are paying the price for the advancement of developed states.”

Johnson Smith said partnerships with larger nations and economies, such as India, are essential to amplify the concerns of the Caribbean Community and other small island developing states on the global stage.

“We know that in the context of the G20 India has sought to highlight the concerns of small, vulnerable states such as ours, including on food security. We have every faith that this will continue. With solidarity and collective action we can pave a way forward to secure prosperity for future generations,” she added.

Meanwhile, Caricom Secretary General Dr Carla Barnett said the 15-member regional integration grouping attaches great value to the bonds of friendship that have been forged with India over the years.

“India has remained a vital partner of the community since the region established formal diplomatic relations in 1997. Subsequently, steady progress has been made through regular political engagements and structured development cooperation arrangements,” she said.

She told the audience that the meeting on Friday was another “meaningful step towards institutionalising our high-level engagements”.

“It follows the establishment of the Caricom-India Joint Commission in 2015, the resumption of ministerial meetings, and the first Caricom-India Summit-Level Meeting in 2019. These engagements have given impetus to our relationship and provided policy guidance for future Caricom-India interactions. “

Barnett said that the ministerial dialogue occurs in a global geopolitical environment roiled by deeply divisive and challenging issues.

“We continue to be burdened by the lingering effects of some of the gravest challenges in recent memory: the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the challenge of small island and low-lying coastal developing states to build resilience, the evident weakening of multilateralism and other troubling geopolitical issues, all encumber our progress.

“These persistent and emerging challenges lead to global socio-economic instability and geopolitical uncertainty, and require the development of institutional responses and innovative approaches.

“Exchanges of information and experience with trusted partners are essential as we seek to develop interdisciplinary solutions and strengthen our collective action. Global challenges require global responses based on solidarity and collective action,” Barnett said.

She said that solidarity and support from India continue to contribute to the advancement of regional integration objectives in areas such as agriculture, information and communications technology, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and disaster risk management.

She noted also that India has provisioned US$150 million in concessional credit to the region.

“As we address the issues on this agenda I look forward to this dialogue, confident that it will deliver tangible results for our respective countries and peoples and advance the friendly relationship forged between Caricom and India over more than 25 years ago,” Barnett added.