Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a state visit Wednesday to the South American country of Guyana, where 40 percent of the population is of subcontinental origin.
Modi signed cooperation agreements with President Irfaan Ali in the fields of agriculture, defense and hydrocarbons — the last of which the tiny nation possesses major reserves of.
“In our meeting today, we identified new initiatives to further strengthen our cooperation. We will continuously make efforts to enhance our mutual trade and economic cooperation,” Modi said after the meeting in Georgetown.
He paid homage to the people who arrived from the Indian subcontinent about 180 years ago, many under a system of indentured labor that served as a replacement for slavery under British colonial rule.
Modi said the community was making a “very important contribution” to Guyana’s development.
“It’s a matter of pride for me and for 1.4 billion Indians,” said Modi.
Ali said Modi’s visit was important to boost cooperation between two nations with a shared heritage “by culture, by blood.”
Guyana’s minister for natural resources, Vickram Bharrat, told reporters India was interested in buying Guyanese petrol.
Modi will address a summit of the CARICOM bloc of Caribbean nations, headquartered in Georgetown, before leaving Guyana on Thursday.
Guyana, an English-speaking former British and Dutch colony, has the world’s biggest reserves of crude oil per capita, but the vast majority of its 800,000 people live in poverty.
The country is embroiled in a dispute with neighbor Venezuela over an oil-rich region they both lay claim to.
