In a move that will further strengthen the already strong bilateral relations between the two countries, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, is expected to visit Guyana next month.
A senior Government official confirmed that, “preparations are being put in place” for the high-level visit in November.
This publication understands that Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Guyana will be a bilateral visit as well as for a CARICOM-India Summit, which will be hosted in Georgetown. The Indian Leader is expected to be in Guyana for two days.
Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Georgetown coincides with his travel to neighbouring Brazil, where he is slated to attend the G20 Summit being held from November 18-19 in Rio.
The visit by the Indian Leader comes on the heels of several high-level visits by senior officials of the Guyana Government in recent years including President Dr Irfaan Ali, Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and Prime Minister Mark Phillips along with a host of Cabinet Ministers.
In fact, in January 2023, President Ali was conferred with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) in Indore, Mahdya Pradesh. He was bestowed with the 17th PBSA award – highest honour conferred on overseas Indians – by Indian President Droupadi Murmu during the valedictory session of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention.
During that visit, President Ali had met with PM Modi during which the two leaders held comprehensive discussions on a wide range of issues including cooperation in energy, infrastructure development, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, technology and innovation, and defence cooperation.
Only last month, VP Jagdeo told reporters at a September 12 press conference that since President Ali’s last visit to India, there had been discussions of a reciprocal visit by PM Modi.
At the time, Jagdeo was asked about the expected outcome of that visit but he explained that given the close bilateral ties that the two countries share, Guyana does not need to wait on such a visit to get any project done with the Indian Government.
“There are lots of room for discussion but don’t want to be premature to talk about issues that are not discussed as yet or maybe part of the Government’s thinking,” the VP noted.
Under a US$7.2 million Line of Credit from the Export-Import Bank of India in 2021, the Guyana Government has delivered some 30,000 solar home solutions to families across every single hinterland region in the country.
According to the Vice President, additional solar panel systems are now being procured by the Government to service hinterland and riverain communities.
“We’ve done couple things – the solar project where we brought in over 30,000 solar panels through a loan from the Indian Government that we had, and then we just ordered another 7,000 because in the riverain areas and some of the Amerindian communities, we didn’t have enough… We’re also part of the Solar Alliance [established by India],” he stated.
This newspaper understands that the 7,000 additional Solar Home Energy Systems is being procured from the same company that supplied the 30,000 panels under the EXIM Bank loan. However, this batch is being bought with local funds.
Under the India-funded Solar Home System Project, some 30,000 150-watt systems were delivered to thousands of households in hinterland and riverine communities along with batteries and lighting kits.
Training exercises were also held for residents to operate these solar systems.
In addition to the solar systems, the Indian EXIM Bank has also approved funding for the establishment of a solar photovoltaic power plant at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
Under the terms of the US$2.5 million deal, which was signed in February of this year, a minimum of 75 per cent of the contract price for goods, works, and services have to originate from suppliers in India.
Additionally, Guyana and India are also working on Defence Cooperation. Guyana is also benefitting from tremendous technical assistance from India, particularly agriculture.
