Al-Rawi: Modi’s visit rooted in PNM talks

Opposition senator Faris Al-Rawi says the visit of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to TT is rooted in talks which began under the PNM government.

He was speaking with Newsday ahead of Modi’s address to a joint sitting of Parliament on July 4.

Al-Rawi said Modi’s visit to TT was an honour as he noted Modi was the leader of one of the largest nations on the planet.

He pointed to the historic links and thriving relationship between both countries.

“TT has had a traditionally excellent relationship with India. Indeed prime minister Rowley met him just recently. We purchased onto the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system… and we’ve had a very good relationship in digital communications and structures.

“I believe his present visit has its roots inside of those conferences that Dr Rowley held with him.”

UPI is a real-time payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) that facilitates instant money transfers between bank accounts using smartphones.

It allows users to send and receive money, pay bills, and make online purchases through a single mobile application.

It was adopted in September 2024 at a function attended by then-Central Bank governor Dr Alvin Hillaire, and is also being used in countries such as the UAE, Singapore, France, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Mauritius.

On November 20, 2024, Rowley and other regional heads of government met with Modi and the Indian delegate at a Caricom-India summit in Guyana’s capital, Georgetown.

He then held bilateral talks with Modi the next day, a meeting Modi described on Twitter/X as “very fruitful.

“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.”

TT and India also signed an MoU at that summit relating to agro and food processing. Then-minister of foreign and Caricom affairs Dr Amery Browne in a post on X on November 21 explained under the MoU, India will provide up to US$1 million in financing and technical assistance to help TT with integrated automated fruit and vegetable processing activities.

Al Rawi said Modi’s visit was evidence the country’s “continuity of democracy is seemingly very good.”

Asked about the decision to confer TT’s highest award, the Order of the Republic of TT on Modi, Al Rawi said he believed it would be improper to comment on it.

“That is an award to a head of State, I think it would be improper to comment on that.

“ORTT is an award that is done through a committee and I haven’t seen the benefit of what the committee has said.”

He congratulated Modi, though, on receiving the award and noted the strong relationship TT had with India under the previous PNM administration.

“I congratulate Prime Minister Modi. I thank him for stopping into TT to deepen our relationship. Certainly our government, the PNM government, had a very strong relationship with India. And I’m happy to see that that is a prosperous one still continuing.”