Trinidad PM to be honoured at Pravasi Bharati Divas

Trinidad PM to be honoured at Pravasi Bharati Divas

Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar will be the chief guest at the Pravasi Bharati Divas in Jaipur and will be honoured with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award.

Persad-Bissessar, who is on a 10-day official visit to the country beginning on Thursday, is accompanied by several ministers and two prominent sporting Ambassadors, cricketers Brian Lara and Darren Ganga.

During the visit, Trinidad & Tobago is expected to sign MoUs with India.

These MoUs are for cooperation and exchange in the field of culture, technical education, traditional medicine, for establishing a Ayurveda Chair in the University of West Indies, and for a bilateral air service.

This is the first state visit by a woman Head of Government of Indian origin.

Apart from her stay in Delhi, Persad-Bissessar is expected to visit Jaipur for the Pravasi Bharati Divas and will be conferred the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, the External Affairs Ministry said in New Delhi on Thursday.

She will also be visiting her ancestral village in Buxar, Bihar besides Kolkata and Mumbai.

Trinidad & Tobago, which is part of Carribean Community (CARICOM), had supported India for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council and has also pledged support for India's effort to get a permanent seat.

"Our relations with Trinidad and Tobago are evolving in the context of the focus on strengthening India's relations with Latin America and Caribbean region. In 2010 Indias trade with the region was US$ 23 billion and cumulative investments estimated to be US$ 15 billion," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

The Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday.

She is also scheduled to call on President Pratibha Patil and Vice President Hamid Ansari.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will call on her.