DR. K.J. SRINIVASA will complete a four-year tenure as the Indian High Commissioner to Guyana on August 13, 2023. He will move back to India to work for the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
A farewell ceremony was held on Wednesday night for Dr. Srinivasa, who stated that it has been a great pleasure to work in such historic and interesting times in Guyana, as the country is continuously developing.
“We have indeed embarked upon many joint ventures with the Guyanese government, and the people of Guyana, wherein our partnership ranges from promoting trade and commerce, investments, political engagements, while also addressing challenges and opportunities in various sectors,” he related.

Dr. Sirinivasa noted that fortunately for the two countries’ relationship, they were assisted with two events which only further strengthened the relations. These were the visits to India by President Dr. Irfaan Ali and Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.
“In fact, very soon after their return, we got a proposal from President Ali to our Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, setting out focus areas which the government of Guyana felt should be addressed by the two sides. And since these were practical and timely, Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately agreed to that,” he explained.
He said that as Guyana enters a new era of development and embarks on its quest for prosperity and development, there is a very strong interest on India’s part to be a partner with Guyana in this journey.

“The focus areas that President Ali and Prime Minister Modi had agreed to include energy, obviously, health and pharma, Development Partnership, and the capacity building that we do,” he explained.
He noted that India’s partnership efforts with Guyana show they regard Guyana as an equal partner.

Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, at the farewell reception, said that the Indian High Commissioner has served the interests of Guyanese in a major way.
“I’m here tonight to give testimony to that fact and to wish him all the best in his future endeavours,” VP Jagdeo said.
He noted that in Dr. Srinivasa’s future endeavours, he is going to remain closely connected, together with the bilateral agenda between India and Guyana.

“So we take comfort in that, because he has great institutional knowledge of the burgeoning economic and social ties between our two countries that, as he said, were given an impetus when the President visited India,” he said.
VP Jagdeo related that during the Indian High Commissioner’s time in Guyana, he saw the intense efforts to change the country and to re-engage people, among other things, which India has been supportive of throughout the period they have been in office.

“India has been there since then, assisting almost in every single development project…we are very proud of this relationship. We’re very happy of the high level attention that India has accorded to our country and we appreciate it a lot,” Jagdeo said.
Further, he noted that they are looking forward to implementing a progressive agenda with India, one which sees Guyana’s agricultural sector being transformed based on tissue culture labs, new varieties of products and recruitment of specialists from India.

“…because in our march for greater food security, we believe India can play a huge role in that regard,” he said.
VP Jagdeo added: “We look forward to working with the Government of India; we want to thank you for your service to Guyana. You have been there at every moment, very responsive to all the requests that we have made of you.”