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Opening Statement by External Affairs Minister at 3rd India-CARICOM Ministerial Meeting on the sidelines of UNGA (September 19, 2017)

September 19, 2017

Chairperson of COFCOR,
Senator the Honourable Maxine McClean,
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados
Excellencies,


Sadly, even as we meet here today, we are witnessing distressing large scale devastation being caused by nature's fury across several of our partner countries. We feel your pain. In this trying hour, we stand with you. We know your people are resilient. We stand ready to assist in your efforts to rebuild broken lives. Our efforts go out To all those affected. I offer our heartfelt condolences on the loss of precious lives. As a token of our solidarity, India will make available an emergency aid of US $200,000 to the worst affected countries. I am asking our Mission to the U.N. to work with our partners in Antigua & Barbuda as well as Dominica and other partners to earmark an amount of US $ 2 million from the India-UN Partnership Fund for South-South Cooperation for rehabilitation projects in CARICOM. India undertook evacuation from Saint Maarten for not only Indians but for nationals of 9 other countries. Let me also say how pleased I am to be with all of you today, for this important meeting with colleagues from CARICOM countries, following my meeting with you in New York in September 2015. The Caribbean has a special place in the hearts of Indians and we would like to continue our interaction with our Caribbean partners on annual basis on the margins of UNGA. India’s ties with the Caribbean region are historic and civilizational. During the colonial era after abolition of slavery, over half a million Indians reached the shores of British colonies in the Caribbean. Many of those have assimilated into their new homes but many also preserved their traditions, thus ensuring cultural linkages between India and the Caribbean.

Excellencies,

Our excellent bilateral relations with individual Caribbean countries are further reinforced by our growing relations with CARICOM. Both India and CARICOM are members of Commonwealth, G-77 and NAM and we have a long tradition of supporting each other in multilateral forums. In my last meeting with you our discussions were focused on further strengthening India-CARICOM bilateral relations. We had discussed a number of measures in this regard such as cooperation in capacity building; promotion of business and trade; enhancement of people-to-people contacts; organizing training programmes in various sectors; holding of business events and cultural festivals; and facilitation of visas. We also had useful exchange of views on issues such as climate change, sustainable development and financing for development. You may recall that we had participated in the upgradation of CARICOM Secretariat’s Information Technology and Communication infrastructure almost a decade back. I am happy to inform you that we are now engaged in upgrading the CARICOM Secretariat’s IT infrastructure which would be completed by end-November this year. We are also in the capacity building initiative for CARICOM personnel, including training young diplomats in India. The next such programme will be held in India from November 13-24, 2017. Similarly, a two-week long capacity building technical assistance workshop on Project Management, Evaluation and Strategic Management for 28 CARICOM personnel was completed in July this year. Agriculture is an important component of the economy of the Caribbean region. Our Ministry of Agriculture would be happy to conduct training programmes in the areas of animal and dairy sciences for the Caribbean countries. I would request for expression of interest for this. India has been a hub for manufacturing quality pharmaceutical drugs, whether generics or specialty medicines, at affordable prices. India is capable of meeting the pharmaceutical needs of CARICOM member States. We propose organizing a workshop for CARICOM drug regulators to assess future requirements.We are also ready to share our long and ancient knowledge of traditional medicines with CARICOM. We already have an Ayurveda Chair in Trinidad and Tobago. I hope that other countries would also be interested in utilizing this knowledge. India has developed some expertise in establishing small and medium enterprises and our National Small Industries Corporation Limited can liaise with the Caribbean Association of Small and Medium Enterprises to build a roadmap for cooperation in this field.Our economic and commercial relations need greater attention to develop more substance. I would like to invite all CARICOM member states to have a pavilion at the India International Trade Fair which is organised every year at Delhi in the month of November. The footfall of this fair is in millions. We will facilitate this participation. I would reiterate my request to the Caribbean member countries to liberalize the Visa regime for Indians who hold a valid US Visa or a Schengen Visa or have a work or residence permit. This will go a long way in increasing India-CARICOM engagement.

Excellencies,

I would like to highlight that terrorism constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. Counter-terrorism requires a strong collective action by the global community. A strong legal framework also needs to be established in order to address this problem. An early adoption by the UNGA of the Comprehensive Convention of International Terrorism, a draft for which was proposed by India as early as 1996, is essential. India has announced its candidature for the non-permanent seat for the UNSC for Asia-Pacific region for the period 2021-22 and candidature of Justice Dr. Dalveer Bhandari for re-election to the Court of Justice for the term 2018-2027. I would appreciate, as in the past, if all CARICOM member states may extend their support for these candidatures. Let me now touch upon Climate Change which is an issue of common concern to all of us. An international regime of actions was agreed in the form of the UNFCCC in 1992. India's per capita emissions are very low compared to both developed as well as other large developing countries and major emitters. Let me assure you all that India is particularly conscious of vulnerability of small island states and low-lying nations to the effect of climate change and would stand behind them in mitigating the effects of climate change. We have also set up the International Solar Alliance jointly with France. We would invite the CARICOM member countries to sign the ISA Framework Agreement. I also invite you, Excellencies, to participate in the Solar Summit which is being organized by us on December 9, 2017.

Excellencies,

I look forward to working with all of you to strengthen and deepen India’s relations with CARICOM. We are committed to continue our dialogue and will make every effort to ensure that we meet regularly to keep our dialogue active and engaging.

Thank you.

New York
September 19, 2017


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