Indian President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday became the first Indian head of state to visit one of the Caribbean nations after he touched down in Jamaica. His visit marks 60 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries and forms part of a wider push by India to forge new alliances. In fact, he has recently visited Turkmenistan and Netherlands as well. Kovind has also been deployed to strengthen existing friendships, such as that with Bangladesh.
Apart from his wife and daughter, Kovind has also been accompanied by Union Minister Pankaj Chowdhary, Lok Sabha MPs Rama Devi and Satish Kumar Gautam, and secretary-level Officers.
President Ram Nath Kovind arrived in Kingston on his state visit to Jamaica. He is the first President of India to visit Jamaica. Sir Patrick Allen, Governor General of Jamaica and PM Andrew Holness received President Kovind at the airport. pic.twitter.com/5EKNRmJ5f3
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) May 15, 2022
He was received by Prime Minister (PM) Andrew Holdness, Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, Ambassador Sandra Grant Griffiths, and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Rear Admiral Antonette Weymss-Gorman. Indian High Commissioner Masakui Rungsung was also present.
During his four-day visit to the country, Kovind will meet with the PM and the Governor General in order to sign an unspecified new bilateral agreement.
(2/2) This is the first state visit of an Indian President to Jamaica.
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) May 16, 2022
Welcome to Jamaica, His Excellency the Honourable Ram Nath Kovind. 🇯🇲🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/YU9jUPaIzH
Minister of Commerce and Industry Aubyn Hill said in an interview with WION, however, that the tow nations should look to increase trade ties, particularly in the services sector, while also outlining his desire for a free trade agreement for the “largest economy” and “largest democracy” in the Commonwealth. Prior to his Kovind’s visit, there were also suggestions that Jamaica may look to India for wheat and fertiliser exports, though whether its calculations may now have changed in light of India’s wheat export ban.
PM @NarendraModi ji's pro-people decision on wheat export ban is well-timed to control prices & avert hoarding.
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 14, 2022
There is no need to imagine a crisis as India has sufficient stock to feed its people & also assist neighbours & vulnerable nations in need.https://t.co/sZhy6mjWYH
He also advertised Jamaica as a great potential source for investment, saying, “maica's special economic zone is a place where Indian investors can put up their logistics hub not just to serve the Caribbean and Latin America, but also the largest economy—the US.”
Meanwhile, an Indian Mukresh Kumar Singh, a businessman in the country cited by The Print, has predicted that the Indian president’s visit could result in IT collaboration, as India is an ‘IT hub’ and Jamaica’s IT sector is also “showing good growth.”
Similarly, the region’s chief for Dr. Reddy Pharmaceuticals, Prithviraj Chatterjee, predicted similar benefits to Jamaica’s pharmaceutical industry, as “Indian generic medicines companies would like to bring more and more medicines in the country, which is required in the region to bring down the cost of medicines here.” He added, “Cancer drugs available here are very expensive, if Indian companies are promoted well, the prices will become reasonable for the people of Jamaica, which will benefit both the countries.”
The Indian president will also inaugurate a road in honour of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, considered by many to be the father of India’s constitution, and a garden to mark the Jamaica-India friendship. Furthermore, he will meet with the Indian diaspora in the country.
Nothing too much to add as far as the renaming of the road is concerned I think it is a mark of the goodwill which they've, they (Jamaica) wanted to name one of roads after one of Indian personalities& Dr Ambedkar's name come up in that particular context: S Kumar, Secy (E), MEA pic.twitter.com/pKTwuurv9S
— ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2022
To this end, a statement released by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) prior to his trip noted that Jamaica is one of the Girmitya countries and is home to at least 70,000 Indian diaspora, many of whom have described Kovind’s visit as a “proud and emotional moment.”
Crucially, Kovind will address a joint sitting of the two houses of parliament, during which he is expected to touch on India and Jamaica respectively celebrating their 75th and 60th years of independence. Commerce Minister Hill said in this regard: “It is an honour we give to a very few.”
In his WION interview, Hill also pushed for Indai to support Jamaica’s candidate for the next secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina. J. Smith. He said, “She knows your foreign minister very well. We are expecting that we will get support from a very big country in Asia.”
It was good to speak this morning with India's MAE @DrSJaishankar to discuss the upcoming historic visit to 🇯🇲 by his President, as well as my campaign for the role of #CommonwealthSG. I welcomed his compliment that my qualifications & vision bode well for the grouping #KJSforCSG pic.twitter.com/z0HSpVw4BQ
— Hon. Kamina J Smith (@kaminajsmith) May 9, 2022
The MEA statement highlights that high level engagement between India and the two island states signifies India’s “continued commitment to work with Small Island developing countries.”
Upon the conclusion of his trip in Jamaica, Kovind will fly to St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) on the 18th, where he will meet with Governor General Susan Dougan, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, and other high-ranking officials. Like in Jamaica, he will also address the SVG’s parliament.
The statement by the MEA noted that both countries were non-permanent members of the UNSC last year, and hailed the country as an “important partner.” It noted that Kovind’s visit to the two countries marks a “continuation of India’s high-level engagement with the countries in the Caribbean region and emphasizes our continued commitment to work with Small Island developing countries.”