New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS ) BJP national spokesperson Sanju Verma on Thursday said that India's ties with Caribbean countries are set to crystallise further under former’s leadership, thereby emboldening PM Modi’s dream of brining the global south together.
“As PM Modi reached out Caribbean countries including Guyana at the height of Covid pandemic, this brought them much closer to India and this is likely to crystallise PM Modi’s dreams of further bringing global south together, with India taking the lead,” said Sanju Verma.
Highlighting PM Modi's historic visit to Guyana, the first by any Prime Minister in past 56 years, she said India and Guyana have a lot to mutually gain as India was the third largest oil importer and Guyana a potentially large oil supplier.
She said that both nations are likely to have a formidable partnership based on mutual respect and dignity.
The BJP spokesperson also emphasised that Guyana has a solid 3.2 lakh plus Indian community, forming 43.5 per cent of the population and the largest ethnic grouping in the South American country.
She also pointed out that 11 billion tonnes of oil reserves were found in Guyana in 2015, which is equal to 18 per cent of the world's oil and gas reserves and equal to 32 per cent of the world's discovered oil reserves.
Highlighting PM Modi's camaraderie with Guyanese president Irfan Ali, she said: "The latter broke protocol and received our leader at the airport in Georgetown along with more than a dozen of his cabinet colleagues."
During the second India-CARICOM summit, over a dozen MoUs were signed between India and Guyana across various sectors.
She said the first-ever India-CARICOM summit was held in New York, on the sidelines of the UNGA in 2019.
On China's ties with Guyana, she said that the South American country did not have a flattering experience as the former did not employ the Guyanese population despite major investments.
She expressed confidence that India, having historically strong cultural ties with Guyana, is expected to do what the Chinese could not.