India, Trinidad and Tobago sign eight MoUs during Jaishankar visit

India and Trinidad and Tobago have signed eight agreements in sectors including tourism, healthcare, infrastructure and Ayurveda during External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s two-day visit to the Caribbean nation, according to an official statement.

Mr. Jaishankar, who visited the Caribbean nation on May 8 and 9, held talks with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and other senior leaders on expanding bilateral cooperation and reviewed progress on announcements made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Trinidad and Tobago last year, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Sunday.

“A total of 8 MoUs were signed between the two sides in the areas of tourism, solarisation of T&T’s Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs building, vector control, infrastructure upgrade of Nelson Island where the Indian immigrants were stayed initially, and for setting up of an Indian Chair on Ayurveda at the University of the West Indies,” it said.

In the presence of Ms. Persad-Bissessar, Mr. Jaishankar handed over the first batch of 2,000 laptops to selected schoolchildren and inaugurated an agro-processing facility for which machinery worth $1 million was provided by India last year.

Ms. Persad-Bissessar and Mr. Jaishankar jointly inaugurated Trinidad and Tobago’s National Prosthetics Centre in Penal.

According to the MEA statement, discussions also covered cooperation in infrastructure, security, forensics, healthcare and capacity building.

The two sides reaffirmed coordination in regional and multilateral forums, including on issues concerning the Global South.

The MEA said the visit gave “fresh impetus” to India’s ties with Trinidad and Tobago.

Mr. Jaishankar concluded his visit to Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday. He was in Port of Spain on the concluding leg of his three-nation tour of Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, aimed at deepening India’s engagement with the Caribbean nations.