Jaishankar wraps Trinidad and Tobago visit, signs 8 MoUs to deepen India-Caribbean ties

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar wrapped up his high-profile two-day visit to Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday, the final stop of his three-nation Caribbean tour that further strengthened India’s growing presence in the region.

The visit, which took place from May 8–9, focused on delivering on promises made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landmark visit last year and charting a new roadmap for digital and healthcare collaboration.

Eight key agreements signed

A key highlight of the visit was the signing of eight Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), signalling a push to expand India-Trinidad and Tobago ties beyond traditional trade and diplomacy.

The agreements focus on strengthening people-to-people connections through closer cooperation in tourism and culture, while healthcare collaboration will include setting up an Indian Chair on Ayurveda at the University of the West Indies and joint work on vector control.

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The two sides also agreed to work together on sustainable infrastructure, including the solarisation of Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs building.

Another significant area of cooperation is heritage preservation, with plans for infrastructure upgrades at Nelson Island — the historic entry point for Indian indentured labourers and a site of deep cultural importance for the Indian diaspora.

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Focus on 'delivery and development'

Jaishankar and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar jointly inaugurated the National Prosthetics Centre in Penal. The centre scales up the success of the "Jaipur Foot" camp, which recently provided artificial limbs to 800 beneficiaries.

"For us in India, there is no greater satisfaction than participating in a concrete manifestation of development," Jaishankar stated during the ceremony. "Prime Minister Modi is obsessed with delivery. If we have done things well at home, we want to do it abroad with our close partners," he added.

Furthering the "Digital India" outreach, the EAM handed over the first batch of 2,000 laptops to local schoolchildren and inaugurated a new agro-processing facility in Couva, powered by $1 million worth of Indian machinery.

Parliamentary and diaspora engagement

The visit also saw a rare gesture for Jaishankar, who was received at the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago, where Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar delivered a formal statement in his honour.

Discussions with Wade Mark, President of the Senate, and Jagdeo Singh, Speaker of the House, focused on strengthening parliamentary democracy exchanges.

Before his departure, the Minister connected with the Indian diaspora. After paying respects at the Mahatma Gandhi bust and visiting the Dattatreya Mandir, he addressed a community gathering, hailing the "resilience of the Girmitiya ancestors" as the bedrock of the special bond between the two nations.