THE leaders of CARICOM and the Republic of India following a meeting on Wednesday at the CARICOM Secretariat, pledged to deepened ties though various initiatives spanning a number of areas and to foster collaboration in areas of common interest.

The following is the full joint statement that was released:

“The Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Republic of India met in Georgetown, Guyana, the location of the Headquarters of the Caribbean Community, at the invitation of His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, on 20 November 2024 for the Second CARICOM-India Summit.

The Meeting, co-chaired by the Chair of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, the Honourable Dickon Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada, and the Honourable Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, was attended by the Heads of State and Government of Antigua and Barbuda, The Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Barbados, The Commonwealth of Dominica, the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Foreign Ministers of Belize, Jamaica, and Saint Kitts and Nevis and the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Dr. Carla Barnett.

The Leaders recalled their First Summit held on 25 September 2019 as well as other engagements between the Foreign Ministers of CARICOM and India, recognising their important contribution towards strengthening the significance of the important relationship between India – the world’s fastest growing and anticipated third largest economy and a major political and military power – and the Small Island and Low-Lying Coastal Developing States of the Caribbean Community.

They expressed pride in the shared historical and cultural ties, strengthened by bonds of friendship through the decades, the great progress made through fruitful dialogue, and the momentum generated in recent years. They were inspired by the existing bilateral and regional initiatives as well as the agreements by both sides, and their cooperation in various international and multilateral fora on political and economic matters that have been instrumental in advancing their respective national development agendas.

The Leaders reviewed the existing trade and investment relationship between CARICOM Member States and India, and the recent progress driven by mutual interest in sectors such as energy, agriculture, ICT, healthcare and pharmaceuticals. They expressed their commitment to advance the growth and prosperity of their respective economies and to enhance their ability to respond to development challenges, promote mutual interests, and influence global developments.

In so doing, they acknowledged the significant scope for boosting trade, investment and economic cooperation between CARICOM and India, and the strengthening of economic and commercial relations, and looked forward to the convening of the Tenth Edition of the India-Latin America and Caribbean Conclave as an important platform to foster economic partnership and enhance trade and investment opportunities.

The Leaders noted with satisfaction the constructive deliberations during the Second Meeting of the CARICOM-India Joint Commission, held on 6 November 2024 and agreed to:

1. reaffirm the importance of the CARICOM-India relationship based on mutual respect, shared interests, cultural ties, deep friendship, and a continued commitment to freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and reformed multilateralism.

2. promote further development of the CARICOM-India partnership through enhanced coordination of positions on the global international agenda.

3. strengthen economic and commercial relations and cooperation between CARICOM Member States and India in the following key areas:

Energy and Infrastructure – through collaboration on renewable energy, energy efficiency, trade and investment in the energy sector, decentralised solar applications including, but not limited to, solar rooftop, solar mini and micro grids, solar desalinations units and solar cold storage, utility scale solar and battery storage; even as the Region seeks to diversify its energy mix, and promote collaboration in the strengthening of maritime connectivity for the development and consolidation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.

Agriculture and Food Security – acknowledging that recent global developments and instability have exacerbated existing inequalities in food and nutrition security, they noted the CARICOM Agri-Food Systems Agenda aimed at strengthening the current food and nutrition security in the Region by reducing the Region’s food import bill by 25% by the year 2025, and agreed on the need for greater reliance on innovation and technology, including climate smart technology; expansion of agri-business and agri-processing; strengthening of transport and logistics support systems partnership in food production; high-yielding seeds and agriculture machinery; experience sharing in sustainable agriculture, food sufficiency and food security, and research and technology support. They also agreed on collaboration between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and institutions such as the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) to boost efforts under the coordination of the CARICOM Ministerial Taskforce on Food Production and Food Security.

Health and Pharmaceuticals –including generic medicines; drug testing laboratories; radiation technology; cancer therapy; dialysis machines; sea ambulances and the Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita and Maitri (BHISHM) Cubes.
Technology and Innovation, and Human Resources and Capacity Building in education, digital public infrastructure digital health, information technology, agriculture, food processing and biofuels, as well as space-based applications which could be utilized, inter alia, in agriculture production, security surveillance, early warning systems and the tracking of sargassum along coastal areas. The two sides will also foster collaboration between their respective institutions of learning and research in areas of common interest.

On Global and Regional Issues, the Leaders engaged in an exchange of views on Haiti, climate change, Reform of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs), and matters pertaining to the United Nations:

4. With respect to Haiti- the Leaders expressed grave concern about the deepening complex crisis and urged international support, to enable restoration of security and political stability to allow the people of Haiti to live in peace and work towards realising the country’s developmental objectives.

5. Noting that critical economic sectors, infrastructural development and lives continue to be adversely affected by climate change, they called for an intensified global effort to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change, agreed on the need for robust climate financing, including the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, and for urgent action across the climate agenda, and emphasised the vulnerability of the Global South, in particular, Small Island and Low-Lying Coastal Developing States. In this regard, they also emphasised the importance of a collaborative global response to climate change and applauded India’s leadership in the International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and Global Biofuel Alliance.

6. The Leaders acknowledged the particular vulnerabilities of CARICOM countries to external shocks and, consequently, called for a comprehensive reform of the international financial architecture. They highlighted the importance of active participation and engagement at the global level, through shared membership of inter-governmental and global processes such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the Group of 77, the Non-Aligned Movement and other multilateral fora.

7. They recognised India’s significant global influence and its leadership as an advocate for the interests of the Global South, and applauded the commendable achievements of India, in its capacity as recent President of the G20 in pushing for economic growth, focusing on debt, bringing ambition on climate finance, technology and several areas of paramount importance to developing countries, including CARICOM.

8. The Leaders reiterated the urgent need for reform of the United Nations Security Council and called for more equitable geographical representation of current global realities and for a Security Council that is more efficient, transparent and responsive to the needs of all Member States to effectively fulfill its mandate of maintaining international peace and security, in an evolving global context. They agreed on the need for comprehensive reforms of the UN Security Council, including expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, and for closer coordination at the level of Permanent Representatives in New York, in furtherance of the reform process, and enhanced representation for Small Island Developing States.

People-to-People Contact and the Strengthening of cultural linkages:

9. The Leaders acknowledged the importance of strengthening people-to-people links between CARICOM and India and committed to deepening these ties through initiatives in areas such as sports, culture, music, film, media, tourism, yoga, exchange programs, and building connections between their diplomatic academies. They also agreed to foster collaboration between their respective institutions of higher learning and research in areas of common interest.

They expressed deep appreciation to the Government and People of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana for the warm welcome and hospitality afforded to them during the Second Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community and the Republic of India.

They decided that the Third CARICOM-India Summit will be held in India and agreed that the Foreign Ministers of CARICOM and India will follow-up on the decisions and agreements adopted at this Meeting.”