GUYANA is seeking to strengthen its ties with India, with India committing to assisting Guyana with infrastructural development, scholarships and the provision of technical services.
The Guyana Chronicle reported that Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hugh Todd said in the past, Guyana had a strong relationship with India and government was attempting to rebuild.
He said, “Previously, India was seen as one of Guyana’s foremost international partners as the two countries shared strong bilateral relations. India and Guyana have had very strong relations in the past, not only from a trade perspective, but culturally, but we intend to continue working on deepening that relationship that we enjoy.
“Now that we are embarking on our emerging oil-and-gas sector, I think our relations with India would become even stronger from a trade perspective. India has already committed to us on major projects, so I can see our relations deepening over the years.”
The Guyana Chronicle reported that last November, Indian High Commissioner Dr K J Srinivasa said the Government of India was willing to purchase Guyana’s share of oil lifts at the market value, annually, through a government-to-government agreement. Todd said such potential agreements would occur through the Ministry of Natural Resources.
He also spoke about possible purchase of Covid-19 vaccines from India, a country known for producing vaccines globally.
Immunisation is presently taking place in India using Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which is produced by Serum Institute of India, and Covaxin, an indigenously produced vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad and the Indian Council for Medical Research.
Guyana has signed up with the Covax facility and is expecting its first set of vaccines in the next coming months.
Todd told the Guyana Chronicle that Guyana will be exploring avenues in which India may be able to assist with the procurement of the vaccines.
