Rowley meets Modi to deepen Trinidad and Tobago-India ties

THE Prime Minister met with Indian President Narendra Modi on November 21 for bilateral talks between the two countries, the day after Modi had presented a long list of offers of assistance and co-operation when he addressed Caricom leaders at the Caricom-India Summit in Georgetown, Guyana.

In a tweet on Twitter/X, Modi said he had held a very fruitful meeting with Rowley.

"We talked about how to diversify trade linkages between our nations. Areas like science, healthcare, education, renewable energy and agriculture offer great potential for co-operation.

"It is a matter of immense joy that Trinidad and Tobago has adopted UPI," Modi added.

"The signing of the MOU relating to agro and food processing is also a welcome step."

Modi had promoted the benefits of the UPI in his address to Caricom leaders on November 20.

"Today in India, direct benefit transfers are being made to millions of people with just one click."

He said the UPI system was being used by countries like the UAE, Singapore, France, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Mauritius.

"It is my suggestion that we work together for its adoption by Caricom countries as well," Modi said.

TT had adopted the UPI system in September at a function attended by Central Bank Governor Dr Alvin Hillaire and Ministry of Digital Transformation officials plus Indian High Commissioner Dr Pradeep Rajpurohit, plus officials from the provider company NPCI.

Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dr Amery Browne in a tweet on November 21 said he had been pleased to sign an MOU for TT to receive high-level agro processing equipment, co-signed by India's external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Browne added, "It was an honour to support Prime Minister Dr Rowley in his important bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi in the margins of the 2024 Caricom-India Summit."

He gave more details in a Facebook post, saying under the MOU, India will help TT with integrated automated fruit and vegetable processing activities.

"The MOU will pave the way for the creation of economic and employment opportunities in the field of agro-processing, through the provision, by India, of up to US$1 million in financing and technical assistance to Trinidad and Tobago."

Browne said the Ministry of Agriculture, via the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (Namdevco), will implement the project.

"The signing of this MOU is a further step towards the deepening of ties and the expansion of the areas of cooperation between Trinidad and Tobago and India," Brown said.