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| St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas (left) with India's High Commissioner to St. Kitts and Nevis His Excellency Mr. Avinash Chandra Gupta.(Photo by Erasmus Williams) |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS (MARCH 19 TH 2004) – A call for a return to the South-South Co-operation of the 1950’s and 1960’s which formed the basis of a unity of minds in the developing nations has come from India’s High Commissioner to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, His Excellency Mr. Avinash Chandra Gupta.
Gupta said his Government in New Delhi was also offering St. Kitts and Nevis scholarships for nationals under its bilateral cooperation programme in the field of education, information technology and agriculture would also provide assistance under the South-South Cooperation Programme called Indian Technical Cooperation Programme (ITEC).
Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas in welcoming the Georgetown, Guyana-based Indian Diplomat during a courtesy call, agreed that the time had come to renew the South-South dialogue which has been lost in the decades of the 80’s and the 90’s.
“Especially as we now confront a much more hostile world through the various international trade obligations that are being thrust upon us and we are being pushed further and further back into the backwaters. I think that a country like India , with its population and vast resources and land mass; St. Kitts and Nevis needs a friend in that part of the world and we therefore cherish the relationship that has been established over the years,” said Prime Minister Douglas, who noted that the twin-island Federation in vulnerable in several areas.
He said St. Kitts and Nevis was heartened that the new Indian Diplomat was prepared to use his own expertise and training to renew that relationship and access technical assistance in agriculture, education and information technology, the areas his St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Administration has been pursuing over the years.
Dr. Douglas told the Indian High Commissioner that St. Kitts and Nevis would welcome assistance from the Government of India in facing the major challenge posed by a declining sugar industry.
It is the first time that a Guyana-based Indian diplomat is accredited to St. Kitts and Nevis . Previously, they were based in Port of Spain , Trinidad.
While here, Mr. Gupta, who is also accredited to Anguilla and Antigua and Barbuda, presented his credentials to the Governor General His Excellency Dr. Sir Cuthbert Sebastian and paid courtesy calls on Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Trade, Labour, Social Security, CARICOM Affairs and Telecommunications and Technology, the Hon. Sam Condor; Minister of Health, Dr. the Hon. Earl Asim Martin and Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Cooperatives, Lands and Housing, the Hon. Cedric Liburd.
Mr. Gupta, who has had a long and distinguished career in the Foreign Service since 1975, also held talks with top officials of the St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
