New York, Sep 24: India and the Caribbean nations must further deepen ties in economic, digital and mobility domains, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.
Jaishankar joined his counterparts from the Caribbean for the India-CARICOM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Wednesday on the margins of the high-level UN General Assembly session.
He highlighted the India-Caribbean solidarity derived from shared history and developmental challenges. He underlined that India has pushed solarisation in the CARICOM region and requested the members to consider joining the International Solar Alliance and the Global Biofuels Alliance.
India “emphasised that we must further deepen our ties, especially in economic, digital and mobility domains,” he said in a post on X.
Jaishankar noted that the committed SME and Quick Impact Projects have been completed in several Caribbean countries, and remain ongoing in some.
He shared that India has conducted limb fitment camps, gifted haemodialysis units, and provided the compact medical BHISHM Cube units to some CARICOM partners.
He also urged CARICOM countries to utilise India-provided training slots and also offered customised training programmes in areas of interest.
Jaishankar also met the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Tom Berendsen, and exchanged views on the Ukraine conflict. He also followed up on the deliverables from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Netherlands earlier this year.
In his meeting with Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen, Jaishankar exchanged notes on current geopolitical and technology challenges. “Our bilateral relations and cooperation in the European Union remain strong,” he said.
Jaishankar met Slovenia Foreign Minister Tone Kajzer and spoke about the emerging trade and investment opportunities as “we move towards the actualisation of the India-EU FTA. Also discussed energy, manufacturing, digital, connectivity, defence and multilateral dimensions of our relationship.”
With Andorra Foreign Minister Imma Tor Faus, Jaishankar discussed issues pertaining to trade and investment, climate change and Artificial Intelligence and also talked about multilateral cooperation. (PTI)
