Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo continued his official visit to India by calling on President Shrimati Droupadi Murmu, who wants to see bilateral relations between the two countries diversified.
The meeting was held on Friday morning at the official Presidential Residence – Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
According to a statement from her office, President Murmu said India attaches very high importance to its relations with Guyana.
Guyana has been a homeland to Indian brothers and sisters for the last 180 years. Even though the two countries are separated geographically by a large distance, it was recognised in the missive that both have many aspects in common such as a colonial past, predominantly agricultural and rural-based economies, and multicultural societies.
Currently, trade between India and Guyana is on an upward trajectory. In the 2021-22 period, bilateral trade between the two countries witnessed a growth of over 300 per cent despite the fallout from the pandemic.
The statement also indicated that President Murmu “…stressed the need to further diversify the bilateral trade.”
The President further noted, according to the statement, that development partnership is a major pillar of India-Guyana relations. She was also elated to learn that more than 640 Guyanese Government officials have been trained under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme so far.
President Murmu expressed confidence that VP Jagdeo’s visit would “further deepen historical bonds of friendship between India and Guyana.”
The Guyanese Vice President arrived in India earlier this week for an official visit from February 20 to 25, 2023. He is accompanied by Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh and a high-level Government and business delegation from Guyana.
On Thursday, Jagdeo met with his counterpart, Indian Vice President Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar. The two officials agreed to continue working on strengthening the bilateral partnership in various sectors including petroleum and natural gas, agriculture, agro-processing, education, healthcare, capacity building, ICT, renewable energy, and climate change.
The Guyanese official also met with several Ministers of the Indian Government including Dr Mansukh Mandaviya – Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Chemicals and Fertilisers, who said “Wonderful meeting with Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, Vice President of Guyana. Discussed various issues of bilateral importance in the health sector including the creation of manufacturing hubs of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostic & handholding, and training of the medical workforce.”
Also on Friday, the Vice President met with India’s Union Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs & Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri. After the engagement he said: “A very productive and fruitful meeting to further cement the ties between our two countries with Vice President of Guyana HE Dr Bharrat Jagdeo & Guyanese Finance Minister HE Dr Ashni Singh in New Delhi today.”
During his visit, VP Jagdeo also participated in the opening of the World Sustainable Development Summit held by TERI (The Energy Research Institute) in New Delhi from February 22 to 24.
In addition, the Guyanese Vice President also had an interview with the Indian news channel – WION, during which he disclosed that Guyana is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would see the country benefiting from India’s vast technical skills in the oil and gas sector.
