Georgetown, July 23 (IANS) A delegation from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) reached Guyana early on Wednesday to attend the Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit, aiming to further bolster the partnership between the two nations in space-based applications.
The summit scheduled from July 23-25 will be led by Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali and is aimed at strengthening international commitment to biodiversity conservation.
According to the Indian High Commission in Georgetown, this visit underlines India’s cooperation with Guyana in the field of biodiversity management, environmental sciences, climate change, agriculture, disaster management and various other space applications.
The delegation called on Guyanese Prime Minister Mark Anthony Phillips and discussed opportunities for expanding cooperation in space applications in areas of mutual interest. They also discussed the participation of India in Global Biodiversity Alliance Summit.
“Other key areas of engagement included Guyana’s leadership in biodiversity and sustainability, management of biodiversity resources, disaster response and early warning systems, climate change, and prospects for technical collaboration between India and Guyana,” Prime Minister Phillips said on his social media on Wednesday.
The delegation includes scientists, G. Srinivasa Rao, from the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), G. S. Pujar, with the Earth Observation and Disaster Management Programme Office, and Sudhakar Reddy Chintala, Head of the Forest Biodiversity and Ecology Division at NRSC.
Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Amit Shivkumar Telang, was also present during the meeting.
The delegation also called on Assistant Secretary General for Economic Integration, Innovation and Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, Wendell Samuel, discussing possibilities of cooperation with CARICOM in areas of mutual interest.
The High Commission added that this visit is part of India’s focus on closer partnership with Guyana and other partner countries in the Caribbean as part of India-CARICOM engagement in science and technology as envisaged during the 2nd India-CARICOM Summit hosted in Guyana in November 2024, during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
When PM Modi visited the South American nation last year, India offered to work with CARICOM in the field of applications of space technology in agriculture, climate change and other areas of mutual interest, the High Commission mentioned.
In November, PM Modi held extensive discussions with President Ali on several aspects of the multifaceted ties between India and Guyana.
The two sides acknowledged the urgency of addressing climate change and its global multidimensional challenges.
They noted that both countries were vulnerable to its impacts and pledged to cooperate on initiatives aimed at climate change mitigation and adaptation, promotion of low carbon development, and assisting in the conservation of biodiversity.
–IANS
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