Sushma Swaraj for better ties with Caribbean, Latin-American nations

UNITED NATIONS: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has discussed UN Security Council reforms and coordination on global issues like international terrorism and climate change in her meetings here with leaders of Caribbean and Latin-American nations.

Swaraj hosted the India-CARICOM (the Caribbean Community) Foreign Minister's meeting here yesterday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Swaraj said "India's ties with the Caribbean region are historic & civilisational and they share similar concerns & common aspirations for accelerated economic development & eradication of poverty (sic)," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

The sides reiterated support for the reform of the UN Security Council and Swaraj praised the role of Chair of Inter-Governmental Negotiations Ambassador Courtnay Rattray of Jamaica on his work to move forward with text-based negotiations on the reform process.

Swaraj also offered assistance to Caribbean countries in capacity building, IT, agriculture, pharma, SMEs, and many other areas.

CARICOM also welcomed India's offer to hold a trade promotion event early next year within the region.

Swaraj also attended the India-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Quartet Ministerial Meeting with her counterparts from Ecuador, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Barbados.

"Our 2 way trade with CELAC is USD 46 billion. We should boost coop in energy, S&T, health care, agro chemicals etc," Swarup tweeted quoting Swaraj who called for India-CELAC coordination on global issues like global terrorism, climate change and UNSC reform.

Swarup said both sides also agreed to work together for early commencement of the text-based negotiations.

Undertaking "neighbourhood diplomacy", Swaraj met Maldivian Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

In her meeting with Maumoon, Swaraj discussed the forthcoming joint commission meeting for which she would be travelling to the Maldives on October 10-11. They also discussed the political situation in the Maldives.

Samaraweera briefed Swaraj on developments relating to the resolution on Sri Lanka in the UN Human Rights Council. They also spoke about scheduling of the next joint commission meeting in Sri Lanka, Swarup said.