Jaishankar's 4-nation visit to Central and Latin America begins today

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar is on a four-nation Central and Latin America visit beginning today.

The EAM will make official visits to Guyana (April 21-23), Panama (April 24-25), Colombia (April 25-27) and the Dominican Republic (April 27-29), the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The EAM will visit the Caribbean nation, Guyana from April 21-23, where he will be calling on the leadership and interacting with several Ministers.

He will be co-chairing the Joint Commission Meeting with his counterpart, Hugh Hilton Todd which will entail discussions on the whole gamut of issues between the two countries. The EAM's visit to Guyana would also be an opportunity for a meeting of Foreign Ministers in the India-COFCOR (Council on Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR); a group of 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM)) format and hold bilateral meetings with participating Ministers, according to the MEA official press release.

Following his visit to Guyana, Jaishankar will visit Panama from April 24-25. He will be calling on top leadership and would be hosted by Foreign Minister Janaina Tewaney Mencomo. During this visit, the India-SICA Foreign Ministerial Meeting will also be convened wherein he would meet representatives of the eight-country Central American Integration System (SICA).

On April 25-27, the EAM will embark on a Colombia visit where he would be meeting several top representatives of the Government, business and civil society. His Colombia visit would be the first Foreign Ministerial level visit to the country, the External Affairs Ministry said in its release.

Furthermore, Jaishankar's visit to the Dominican Republic is the highest-level visit from India since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1999. He will visit the country from April 27-29.

The EAM's visit takes place after the establishment of our resident Embassy in Santo Domingo in 2022. Apart from calling on the country's political leadership, EAM will be holding discussions with Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez, the press release said.

The two leaders would also formally inaugurate the Indian resident mission. EAM is also expected to deliver a talk at the Dominican Republic Foreign Ministry.

A business delegation from India, led by CII will be joining EAM at business events are also planned during the course of the visit. These meetings underline the growing interest on both sides for stronger trade ties. EAM will also be meeting members of the Indian community in all four countries.

EAM's visit to these four countries; his bilateral engagements as well as interactions with counterparts of important regional groups: CARICOM and SICA, adds to the momentum of the India-LAC engagements.

It will provide an opportunity to continue high-level contact with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and explore new areas of cooperation in a whole host of areas; particularly in the post-pandemic scenario, the official press release read.