EAM Jaishankar co-chairs 4th India-CARICOM ministerial meeting with Jamaican counterpart

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday co-chaired the 4th India-CARICOM ministerial meeting with his Jamaican counterpart Kaminaj Smith here in Guyana's capital and discussed a range of issues, including trade, climate change and counterterrorism.

Jaishankar began his nine-day trip to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and the Dominican Republic on Friday by meeting his counterpart from Surinam Albert Ramdin here.

''Co-chaired 4th India-CARICOM Ministerial Meeting with Jamaican FM @kaminajsmith at @CARICOMorg HQ. Thank FM Guyana Hugh Todd for inviting us all,'' he tweeted.

He said he appreciated the perspectives of his counterparts from the Caribbean nations of Surinam, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Grenada, and representatives from Belize and Bahamas.

''Discussed our wide-ranging sectoral cooperation, including in Trade & Economy; Agriculture & Food Security; Health & Pharma; Energy & Renewables; Infrastructure, ICT & eGovernance; Development Partnership & Capacity Building; Higher Education; Culture and P2P domains,'' he tweeted.

''Also exchanged views on vital issues of Climate Change & Disaster Resilience; Counter Terrorism; Reformed Multilateralism and closer cooperation at multilateral forums. Agreed on follow-up steps, including holding the second Joint Commission Meeting this year,'' Jaishankar said.

Earlier on Friday, Jaishankar also met Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Dr Carla Natalie Barnett and exchanged views on intensifying India-CARICOM ties in traditional as well as new areas of cooperation.

CARICOM is an intergovernmental organisation that is a political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) throughout the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean.