The meeting was a follow up to the second India-CARICOM Summit chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leaders of CARICOM countries in Guyana in November 2024

The meeting was a follow up to the second India-CARICOM Summit chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leaders of CARICOM countries in Guyana in November 2024

The meeting was a follow up to the second India-CARICOM Summit chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leaders of CARICOM countries in Guyana in November 2024

• Minister of External Affairs S, Jaishankar joined his counterparts from the Caribbean for the India-CARICOM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on the margins of the high-level UN General Assembly session on September 23.

• The meeting was a follow up to the second India-CARICOM Summit chaired by Prime Minister  Narendra Modi and the leaders of CARICOM countries in Guyana in November 2024.

• During the meeting, the group conveyed the decision to support India’s candidature for UNSC term 2028-29.

India at the UNSC

• India has served as a non-permanent member of the UNSC eight times.

• The most recent term was for the 2021-22 period.

• India’s previous stints at the UNSC were: 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985, 1991-1992, and 2011-2012.

Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

• Formation: Established on July 4, 1973, by the Treaty of Chaguaramas.

• Predecessor: Evolved from the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA).

• Secretariat: The principal administrative organ is the CARICOM Secretariat, located in Georgetown, Guyana.

• Leadership: The chairmanship of the Community is rotated every six months among the heads of its member countries.

• Population: It is home to approximately 16 million citizens of diverse ethnic backgrounds, including Indigenous Peoples, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Chinese, and Javanese.

CARICOM Membership

• Full Members (15): Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago.

• Associate Members (8): Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, French Guiana, Martinique, and Turks & Caicos Islands.

• Geography: Primarily composed of island states, except for Belize in Central America and Guyana and Suriname in South America.

Core objectives of CARICOM:

• To improve standards of living and work.

• To achieve full employment of labour and other factors of production.

• To promote accelerated, coordinated, and sustained economic development.

• To expand trade and economic relations with third States.

• To enhance international competitiveness and productivity.

• To achieve a greater measure of economic leverage and coordinate foreign policies.