[Wionews] Guyana’s Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, said that his country plans to sign a memorandum of understanding with India to enhance cooperation in the energy sector beyond crude oil exports. Speaking exclusively to our diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Jagdeo emphasised the need to develop the industry in an orderly and sustainable manner and explained that “by 2027, we will produce over a million barrels, maybe 1.2 million barrels per day, that’s a steep ramp up. That’s almost 20% of India’s daily use.”
Guyana’s vice president also told WION that the country is seeking to purchase defence capabilities from India to assist with protecting its maritime boundaries and exclusive economic zones from illegal fishing and safeguarding its oil and gas industry. This is the third high-level visit from Guyana to India in the last two months, after the visit of Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali and chief of defence staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess.
WION: What kind of energy cooperation exists between India and Guyana? Any plans to export crude to India?
Dr Bharrat Jagdeo: Well, we hope that will happen eventually. So now we’re trying to build the architecture for a broader look at the energy sector and enhance cooperation between Guyana and India. So we’re expecting shortly to sign a memorandum of understanding that would go beyond just the export of crude, but we’ll look at the energy sector and its development in its totality. And we are also looking to learn quite a bit from India. In that process as we build out our industry. In Guyana, it’s a fledgling industry. We just started producing oil in 2019. By 2027, we will produce over a million barrels, maybe 1.2 million barrels per day, that’s a steep ramp-up. That’s almost 20% of India’s daily use. And so we are working to ensure that the sector develops in a manner where the oil companies bear their share of responsibilities both from an environmental perspective and a fiscal perspective and that the industry is developed in an orderly way. So that is why India’s assistance and its great technical skills, you have a lot of smart people here who can help us in defining the growth of the industry, but not just on oil, on the gas sector as we move to develop a gas policy and to start utilizing the gas resources and then in terms of environmental management, building capacity across the country. So we are looking forward with great excitement to the development of a strong relationship with India on energy-related matters.
WION: How do you see India and Guyana’s relationship?
Dr Bharrat Jagdeo: So I’m not new to India, and our relationship has always been a warm one. I came here in 1993, as a finance minister with the president, I made two state visits here in the early 2000s as President and now coming as vice president in support of the President’s earlier agenda. But recently, I think there’s been a great impetus to this move forward. I think it’s a function of a government here that is very aggressive, that is looking out for India’s interests, that is interested in building partnerships around the world, and we’re very appreciative of it. And just on this visit alone, I’ll probably meet about five ministers and the vice president and the president of India in just a short period of time, and we really appreciate that. So we want to reciprocate, we want to make sure that from our side, we’re not found wanting because we believe with the new opportunities in Guyana, can serve both India and Ghana’s interests well, so this is really important for the recent impetus of the relationship.
WION: and Defense cooperation? Are you looking at Dorniers?
Dr Bharrat Jagdeo: Well, yes, we’re looking at a number of defence capabilities, but in our case, it is mainly for peaceful purposes. We have great relationships with our neighbours and where we’re not looking to fight a war. We’re a small country, with less than a million people. But India, particularly in the defence sector, has some really great capabilities and we’re looking to buy some of that capability to assist us with the task of exercising greater sovereignty over maritime boundaries or exclusive economic zones. We have major leakages there from illegal fishing, and now that our oil and gas industry is braced primarily offshore. We have to protect those assets. Similarly, Air capability would allow us to better serve people who live in the vast hinterland of the country where there are small communities so that’s why we want to work in that sector, too. And we’ve already been on this trip, we’ve had discussions with the people that matter, who are supplying these goods and services, and we hope to wrap up some arrangements very soon.
WION: India is the President of the G20 grouping, how do you see India becoming the voice of the Global South, the Global South that is impacted by Russia Ukraine conflict?
Dr Bharrat Jagdeo: India has always had an independent global voice and a more nuanced position on issues of development. And we are hoping that that will continue in its presidency of the G 20. PM Modi has, because of the strength of his character, and because India has made enormous advances on every front, on renewable energy on the economy, in its stature globally, that people, India is best served now at this point in time in amplifying the voice of the south, those who are dispossessed, those who will not ever get invited to those forums. We’ve seen India’s willingness to do that, to represent the interests not only of its own interest but that of the global south including small countries. Just at the conference at TERI, the minister of the Environment spoke about small island states. But it didn’t surprise me because India has always done that not just to represent the big developing countries but small ones too, and I think that is why so many countries look up to India, and they are so excited about its presidency of the G 20. But of course, we have to be realistic. Not everything would be achieved there, but at least their issues will be brought to the agenda.
