International RelationsImportant2024-11-20

Second India-CARICOM Summit in Guyana

In News

What Happened

On November 20, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi co-chaired the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit in Georgetown, Guyana, alongside Grenada's PM Dickon Mitchell. Marking the first visit by an Indian PM to Guyana in 56 years, Modi proposed a 7-pillar 'C.A.R.I.C.O.M' framework for cooperation. During the visit, he was also conferred with Guyana's highest national award, 'The Order of Excellence', and Dominica's 'Dominica Award of Honour'.

Why It Matters

This summit significantly deepens India's diplomatic footprint in the Caribbean and the broader Global South. It secures vital partnerships for India's energy security (via Caribbean hydrocarbons) and expands its SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) maritime vision beyond the Indian Ocean to global ocean economies.

Background

History & Context

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was established in 1973 via the Treaty of Chaguaramas and consists of 15 member states. Formal institutional dialogue between India and CARICOM began in 2003 with the establishment of a Standing Joint Commission. The 1st India-CARICOM Summit took place in 2019 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where India offered a $150 million line of credit for renewable energy. PM Modi's 2024 visit is the first by an Indian PM to Guyana since Indira Gandhi in 1968.

What Changed

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BEFORE: The 1st India-CARICOM Summit (2019) was held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. NOW: The 2nd Summit (2024) was a historic standalone meeting hosted on CARICOM soil in Georgetown, Guyana.
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BEFORE: Sectoral cooperation was broad and lacked a unifying strategic acronym. NOW: India introduced a structured 7-pillar framework forming the acronym C.A.R.I.C.O.M (Capacity Building, Agriculture, Renewable Energy, Innovation, Cricket/Culture, Ocean Economy, Medicine).
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BEFORE: Indian technical scholarships to CARICOM countries were smaller in scope. NOW: India announced the addition of 1,000 new ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) scholarship slots for CARICOM countries over the next five years.

Prelims Angle

NCERT Connection

This aligns with Class 12 Political Science (Contemporary World Politics) chapters discussing 'South-South Cooperation' and India's leadership in the Global South. Expanding from early Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) ties, India is shifting to pragmatic, capacity-building diplomacy through targeted developmental frameworks like ITEC and the newly proposed CARICOM pillars.

Practice Questions

Q1

With Reference To

With reference to the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit, consider the following statements: 1. The summit marked the first-ever standalone meeting between India and CARICOM Heads of Government held on CARICOM soil. 2. Prime Minister Modi introduced a 7-pillar framework that includes 'Ocean Economy' and 'Cricket and Culture' as focus areas. 3. The first India-CARICOM Summit was held in New Delhi in 2015. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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