General Assembly General Assembly

 

CARICOM Day Virtual Celebration

Remarks by Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti

Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations

6 July 2020

 

Dr. The Honourable Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 

H.E. President of the UN General Assembly,

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

I thank the Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda, the Chair of the CARICOM Caucus of PRs to the UN, for giving me the opportunity to say a few words. 

Allow me, at the outset, to congratulate CARICOM for the 47th anniversary of its founding. 

I would also like to congratulate the Government of Barbados for their excellent stewardship of CARICOM and for the leadership of Her Excellency the Prime Minister of Barbados. 

I would like to wish Prime Minister Dr. The Honourable Ralph Gonsalves of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines the best during his tenure as Chair of the CARICOM. We recall his very successful visit to India last year.  India also looks forward to joining Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the UN Security Council next year. 

Excellencies, 

Countries around the world are grappling with the devastating consequences of COVID-19. This has deeply impacted developing countries, especially those which rely on one or two sectors for their economic growth and livelihood. 

The strong resilience demonstrated by the CARICOM member states in the face of the COVID-19 stands testimony to the will and determination of the Caribbean people to fight this pandemic. 

Enhancing regional integration is important to face the challenges collectively, inter alia, through building regional capacity, greater intra-regional trade and services as well as greater policy coordination between CARICOM economies. India is working closely with the CARICOM community and has contributed to effectively manage some of the challenges in the process of economic integration. 

Excellencies, 

India’s relations with CARICOM countries are longstanding, friendly and multifaceted. Today our cooperation spans the entire spectrum of capacity building, clean energy, disaster resilience, promotion of business and trade, and people-to-people contacts. 

The Leaders’ Summit held last September in New York was very eventful. India had announced a $14 million grant for development projects in the CARICOM and another $ 150 million Line of Credit for, inter alia, renewable energy and climate-change related projects. 

The India-UN Development Partnership Fund is also responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in CARICOM countries. Several projects are underway. For example, in Antigua and Barbuda, the Fund has procured the medical ventilators and in Saint Lucia, the Fund will help procure urgent medical supplies and develop mechanisms to facilitate cash-transfers and in-kind support for small businesses.  We look forward to enhancing our association with CARICOM even further. 

On this CARICOM Day, I take the opportunity to wish all CARICOM countries success and prosperity. 

Thank you. 

 

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