SPECIAL REPORT
economic diffi culties of the CARICOM member states within
the region and is considered to be one of the most advanced
regional institutions in the developing world. The Revised
Treaty of Chaguaramas in 2001 principally gave rise to an
initiative or strategy known as the Caribbean Single Market
and Economy (CSME), which if successful, would eventually
integrate all member countries into a single economic space
and allow free movement of goods and services.
India’s relations with the Caribbean countries may be
traced back to the early nineteenth century. From this period
till the early part of the twentieth century many indentured
agricultural labourers from diff erent parts of India were
transported there to work in the plantations. With the
introduction of sugarcane culture, the economic prospects
of most of the Caribbean countries completely changed.
Thus, ethnic Indians comprise between thirty to forty percent
of the population in Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and
Tobago. Other countries in the Caribbean such as Jamaica
While cultural links were already strong with India, it
was only in November 2003 that it was agreed to set up an
India-CARICOM Joint Commission during a CARICOM
delegation visit to India. In 2005 the fi rst meeting of India-
CARICOM Foreign Ministers was held at Paramaribo,
Suriname while the CARICOM Summit was on. The First
India-CARICOM Economic Forum was held in Port of Spain,
Trinidad and Tobago in August 2005, followed by the fi rst
India-Caribbean Conclave in June 2009. Several areas of
cooperation were identifi ed between CARICOM and India
which ranged from socio-economic bilateral issues including
trade, tourism and the fi ght against AIDS to political ones
such as combating terrorism, the UN development millennium
goals and its reform. Some of the main areas of concern/
cooperation may be listed as:
Promotion of trade in goods and services: While the
socio-cultural historical links of the Caribbean countries with
India are very important, recent trends have shown that there
The major export destinations of India and import from the region to India
are the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, Guyana,
and Barbados. India exports mostly pharmaceutical products, iron and steel,
machinery and instruments to CARICOM.
and the Bahamas also have smaller percentages of the Indian
population.
This means that there already exist strong emotional and
cultural links between India and these Caribbean countries. A
nascent market to cater to the demands of the Indians seeking
to preserve their ethnic life-style associated with cuisine and
other cultural artifacts had been created in the Caribbean. The
demand for these products led to a commercial relationship
with India even during the inter-war period of the 1920s and
1930s. Indian cinema too became much sought after. With
independence and the establishment of diplomatic relations
between India and the newly independent countries of the
Caribbean in the 1960s, bilateral relations grew more in
academics and sports, more importantly, cricket. Trade
links were not very substantial at the time. One of the initial
examples of bilateral relations was the establishment of the
Indian Studies “Chair” at the St. Augustine campus in the mid-
1960s in Trinidad, a result of the informal dialogue between
Trinidad’s fi rst Prime Minister Eric Williams and India’s
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (Singh and Izarali, 2013).
is a greater potential for economic links through trade. There
is no doubt that China already plays a major economic role
in the Caribbean, but with its growing middle-class India’s
population is likely to surpass that of China by 2030 and it
can provide a large market (ECLAC 2011, 11). India’s total
trade with Latin America and the Caribbean has averaged 117
million dollars between 2008-2010 while its trade with the
CARICOM countries rose from 85.5 million US dollars in
2003-4 to 1195 million US dollars in 2009-10 (Exim Bank
2011, 72).
The major export destinations of India and import from
the region to India are the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago,
Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, Guyana, and Barbados. India
exports mostly pharmaceutical products, iron and steel,
machinery and instruments to CARICOM. Crude petroleum,
gold, metalliferous ores and scrap are major items that India
imports from CARICOM (Exim Bank of India, 2011, 17).
One of the discussion points for services has been the rich
possibilities in travel and tourism. For India, acquiring and
renovation of hotels in the CARICOM region, which is a very
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 9 • September 2019, Noida • 11