New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) and Ghana this week is reaffirmation of India’s focus on the Global South and takes forward the process that New Delhi initiated with the voice of Global South Summit during G20, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday.

The Caribbean nation will be the second leg of PM Modi’s five-nation visit after Ghana (July 2-3) and will be followed by Argentina (July 4-5), Brazil (July 5-8) and Namibia (July 9).

This will be PM Modi’s first visit to the country as Prime Minister and the first bilateral visit at the Prime Ministerial level to T&T since 1999.

Both the countries are seeking to expand and diversify their cooperation into major emerging areas like pharmaceuticals, tertiary care, renewable energy, digital public infrastructure, agriculture, disaster resistance and innovation and technology, along with sports, academic and cultural cooperation.

“The visit comes at an opportune time, as this year, 2025, the country (Trinidad and Tobago) is commemorating 180 years of the arrival of Indian immigrants in T&T,” said MEA Secretary (South) Neena Malhotra during a special media briefing ahead of PM’s five-nation visit.

During the visit, Prime Minister Modi will hold talks with the President of Trinidad & Tobago, Christine Carla Kangaloo, and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and discuss further strengthening of the India-Trinidad & Tobago relationship. Prime Minister is also expected to address a Joint Session of the Parliament of T&T. The visit of the Prime Minister to T&T will impart fresh impetus to the deep-rooted and historical ties between the two countries, the MEA stated on Monday.

Bilateral relations between both nations are supported by a vibrant Indian diaspora. Out of the total 1.36 million population of T&T, the Indian diaspora constitutes nearly 40–45 per cent of T&T’s population. The diaspora, descendants of immigrants who arrived starting 1845, continues to maintain strong cultural and emotional bonds with India.

PM Modi’s address to the joint session of the parliament of T&T is also being seen as symbolic of India’s traditions and democratic values, reaffirming New Delhi’s deep rooted and enduring ties with the Caribbean.

“The Speaker’s chair in the Parliament has been a gift by India, which is again a symbolic reminder of the strong democratic and parliamentary traditions between our two countries,” said Secretary Malhotra.

This visit, she added, is also very special for both the President and the Prime Minister of T&T, since they are both of Indian origin, and hold pride in calling themselves as “daughters of India”.

“The entire Indian community in Trinidad and Tobago is very enthusiastic about PM Modi’s upcoming visit and a large diaspora interaction event is being planned during the visit. During the visit, the PM will hold high-level discussions with both the President and Prime Minister, and the leaders are expected to cover the entire gamut of our bilateral relations, as well as regional and multilateral aspects,” the MEA Secretary mentioned.

A set of bilateral documents in different areas of cooperation are expected to be signed during PM Modi’s visit strengthening further India’s development partnership with T&T which remains diverse and robust and includes capacity building initiatives, grant based projects and health care initiatives.

Prime Minister Modi has interacted with past T&T leaders on the margins of international summits, including CHOGM (2018), UNGA (2019), India-CARICOM Summits (2020 and 2024).

India, in the last eight months has had several high-level visits from the global South countries, particularly from South Central America as well as the Caribbean, including visits from Presidents of Peru and Chile, Foreign Minister of Honduras and the Deputy Prime Ministers of Jamaica.

–IANS

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