In Trinidad and Tobago, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar led discussions on the economy, infrastructure, security, forensics, healthcare, and capacity building. Eight MoUs were signed. Dr Jaishankar handed over the first batch of 2,000 laptops to selected schoolchildren, inaugurated the Brechin Castle Agro-Processing Facility and a Quick Impact Project to upgrade T&T’s cultural heritage facilities, including Nelson Island which the minister visited.

The PM and the minister jointly inaugurated Trinidad and Tobago’s National Prosthetics Centre in Penal, a direct result of the 2025 Jaipur Foot Camp, where over 800 people have already received free limbs. India has committed a technical expert for 12 months to facilitate skills transfer to T&T’s Ministry of Health. Persad-Bissessar intends to expand these services to Caricom neighbours—a most welcome move.

Indeed, while enlightened self-interest commonly drives international relations, there is also unmistakeable benevolence in India’s approach towards Caricom. One recalls New Delhi’s “Vaccine Maitri” (friendship) programme to assist countries when Covid-19 struck. In two months, India donated 495,000 vaccines to Caricom countries, in response to a request from then-chair PM Mia Mottley of Barbados who shared the gift with the Community, including Trinidad and Tobago. Guyana got 80,000; Jamaica, 50,000; Suriname, 50,000; St Vincent and the Grenadines, 40,000; Antigua and Barbuda, 40,000; St Lucia, 25,000; and St Kitts and Nevis, 20,000 doses.

The region’s prime ministers along with cricketing greats Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Richie Richardson and others publicly thanked India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Dominica’s PM, Roosevelt Skerrit, said, “I did not imagine the prayers of my country would be answered so swiftly.” His nation’s size and might didn’t matter, said Skerrit: “To the credit of PM Modi, the equality of our people was recognised.” The approach of a true friend.

The roots are deep. India has been linked to Africa and the Caribbean through the decolonisation process and the Non-Aligned Movement. From these emerged leading figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru of India; Nelson Mandela, Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta and Julius Nyerere from Africa; and Caribbean leaders like Norman Manley of Jamaica, Cheddi Jagan of Guyana and this country’s first prime minister, Dr Eric Williams, described by Indian National Congress leader Jairam Ramesh as “a key figure in the freedom movement, for his historical insights, particularly through his book Capitalism and Slavery”.

Fifty-six years later, in 2024, the second Indian prime minister to visit the Caribbean was Sri Narendra Modi on a historic visit to Guyana when they developed important instruments to advance their comprehensive bilateral agenda. Most significantly, the second Caricom/India summit was held during this visit, co-chaired by Modi and Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dickon Mitchell, and attended by all Caricom leaders.

At this summit, Modi introduced a seven-pillar framework to enhance cooperation between India and Caricom. In Capacity Building he announced 1,000 IT scholarships; a proposed regional forensic centre; expansion of India’s technology centre in Belize; and online training for civil servants. Under Agriculture and Food Security, India would share its advancements in agriculture technology and promote millet cultivation for nutrition and sustainability.

The friendship was further demonstrated during Modi’s visit to Trinidad and Tobago in 2025 which commemorated the 180th anniversary of the arrival of indentured Indian immigrants in 1845. During the visit, Modi and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar held comprehensive discussions to build a broad-based, forward-looking partnership in health, ICT, culture, sports, trade, economic development, agriculture, justice, legal affairs, education, and skills development, which were all furthered when Minister Jaishankar visited recently.

India has been supportive of Caricom countries since decolonisation and the start of nationhood in our region. The South Asian giant stands today as the world’s fourth largest economy. There is enormous opportunity here for the Caribbean Community. In today’s world of increasing geopolitical uncertainties, it is good to have India as Caricom’s friend.