Kingstown/New Delhi, May 20 (UNI) President Ram Nath Kovind, who is visiting St Vincent and the Grenadines, said India deeply value its ties with the CARICOM grouping and will continue to partner with the Caribbean regional mechanism in addressing the challenges of development and other issues. In an address to the House Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on the topic “India and SVG – Towards an Inclusive World Order”, President Kovind said India’s philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or the world is one family also demonstrates India’s approach in the global arena, which means India believes in an inclusive world order that is sensitive to the legitimate interests and concerns of every country and region, irrespective of its size or wealth. “We think and act for the future of entire humanity. India has remained steadfast in its commitment to share its experience, knowledge and skills acquired in its journey of development with fellow developing countries. I am confident that India and St. Vincent and the Grenadines will continue to work closely together in advancing the shared objectives for an inclusive world order,” the President said.
“We deeply value our ties with a CARICOM, which is one of the oldest integration groupings in the region. India will continue to partner with this regional mechanism in addressing the challenges on the front of development and other issues,” he added. “India engages with the SVG at a regional level in the CARICOM, which has more than one million strong Indian diaspora. We appreciate the SVG’s active participation in the various activities on our agenda with the CARICOM.” The Caribbean Community and Common Market – CARICOM – is a grouping of 20 nations in the Caribbean region. President Ram Nath Kovind also held talks with Dame Susan Dougan, Governor General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and PM Dr Ralph Gonsalves. They discussed strengthening cooperation in the fields of Information Technology, health, education, tourism & culture and in the multilateral fora. Later, President Kovind addressed the Indian origin community in Kingstown, the capital of St Vincent and the Grenadines and also renamed ‘Calder Road’ to ‘India Drive’ in the presence of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.
PM Gonsalves, in his address to the Parliament, welcomed President Kovind to the country and also expressed “solidarity greetings to my friend, the Honourable Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, his family, his government, and the magnificent people of India.” “Today is truly historic in the relations between our two countries: It is the first time that the President of India is visiting us; and it is the first time, too, that the Head of State or any other high-office holder, of India is addressing our Parliament. Your Excellency, we are most honoured by your esteemed presence. We are thrilled that you have chosen to visit us, alongside Jamaica, on your current Caribbean journey. This is truly extraordinary; it is of inestimable consequence!” “St. Vincent and the Grenadines and India are inextricably bound to each other through ties of blood; our commitment to democratic values and liberty; our stance of non-alignment from hegemonic power blocs globally; our quest for peace, security, and progress for all nations and peoples; and our practical bonds of friendship grounded in high principle and mutual interests. Your Excellency’s visit will undoubtedly strengthen further our existing unbreakable ties which bind.
“Your Excellency, between 1861 and 1881, the records show that 2,472 citizens of colonial India were brought to colonial St. Vincent as indentured labourers to work mainly on the plantations owned by Anglo-Saxons. The wrenching crossing of the “Kala Pani” — the taboo of the dark or black waters from India to the Caribbean — remains for our nationals of Indian descent not only a source of a painful dissolution of identity but also a resource for an enduring embrace of India and a simultaneous reconstruction of life and living in our Caribbean, in our St. Vincent and the Grenadines! “The incubus of British colonialism was unable to defeat or destroy the unconquerable spirit of our indentured brothers and sisters who came to us from the ancient Indian civilisation of glory, merit, and worth.”
“Thus, in our national life, in this our veritable symphony of oneness, the chords of India lives in us; so, too, the metaphoric songs of our indigenous forebears; so, too, the rhythm of Africa, the melody of Europe, and the home-grown lyrics of our Caribbean, our St. Vincent and the Grenadines!] “Through the outreach of the Indian government, the Global Organisation for Persons of Indian Descent, the Indian Heritage Foundation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and with the active support of the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the joinder between our two civilisations is deepening and broadening. This is a most uplifting enterprise! We commemorate, in remembrance and hopefulness, Indian Arrival Day, every year, in the month of June,” the PM said.