–As President Ali set to meet Indian Prime Minister
INDIA will pursue its longstanding interest in Guyana’s oil when its Prime Minister, Narendra Modi meets with President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, who is on an official visit to the Asian country, and will be conferred with a highly prestigious award in coming days.

President Ali and his delegation arrived in India on Saturday. Since then, Guyana’s Head of State has participated in several events at Indore, Madhya Pradesh and held bilateral talks with India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

According to a Facebook post from the Office of the President, President Ali and Dr. Jaishankar held discussions on co-operation in the areas of energy, infrastructure, and digital technology.

The Indian Financial Express, however, offered greater details on the Indian government’s high interest in Guyana’s energy resources- particularly the country’s oil.

In response to a question by Financial Express Online, Secretary at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Dr Ausaf Sayeed, said that President Ali and Prime Minister Modi are expected to meet this week.

And importantly, Sayeed said, “Energy will be one of the subject we would like to build upon, as India’s energy demands are expected to go up from 4.8 million barrels per day in 2021 to almost 11.1 million barrels per day as we look decades later.”

The Financial Express report also stated that Sayeed highlighted that Indian companies are already importing crude from the Caribbean nation worth around US$1.5 million.

Other issues the two leaders will discuss, the Express reported, include migration & mobility, food processing, infrastructure, agriculture and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

It is important to note that Indian interest in Guyana’s is not new. Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr. K. J. Srinivasa previously said that the Government of India is willing to purchase Guyana’s share of oil lifts at the market value, annually, and on a long-term basis, through a government-to-government agreement, since the country is a mass importer of oil.

The High Commissioner had noted, also, that Indian companies such as Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Bharrat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) – all State-owned companies – would be interested in buying crude from Guyana in the future.

Already, the country purchased at least two lifts of oil- that is, the two consignments of the one million barrels of oil the government receives on behalf of Guyana. That contributed to the US$200 million in bilateral trade between the two countries, based on latest figures. A long term supply deal has not yet been finalised.

During his time in India, President Ali will be conferred with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award at the Indian Diaspora Day celebrations in Madhya Pradesh slated for Tuesday. This is a prestigious award for people of Indian origin living outside of India and President Ali will be the Chief Guest at the award ceremony. Dr. Ali joins 26 other persons of Indian origin/non-resident Indians, including Surinamese President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, who have been recognised by the Government of India for their outstanding achievements both in India and abroad.