On December 2, 2020, The 7th India-Suriname Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was held virtually. The meeting was Co-Chaired by the Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan & Albert R. Ramdin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation of the Republic of Suriname.
Key Points:
i.Both Countries agreed to give importance to the Business & Investment sector to improve the Bilateral Relations and also to strengthen people to people ties.
ii.They also agreed to enhance cooperation for the establishment of creative industries, Health, Traditional System of Medicine, Agriculture, Mining, Energy, Defense, Culture & Education, Consular Cooperation and Development Partnership.
iii.The Two Ministers emphasized the importance of undertaking developmental projects under concessional conditions (including Lines of Credits) to improve the spirit of South-South Cooperation.
iv.The next JCM Meeting is set to be held at Paramaribo, Capital of Suriname in 2022 on a date to be decided by both countries.
Highlights:
i.Both Countries agreed to support each other in International Forums such as United Nations Security Council Reforms.
ii.The Ministers agreed to work together through the mechanism of JCM to strengthen and expand the Bilateral Relations.
iii.They also underscored the Importance of JCM for deepening and reviewing the ties between the two countries, and also to exchange views on regional and multilateral cooperation.
India-Suriname Development Partnership:
i.India’s Development partnership with Suriname covers various sectors such as Power Generation and Transmission network, General Supply and Water Supply.
ii.The Two sides agreed for early implementation of projects which will contribute to energy security, energy efficiency and energy mix of Suriname.
Recent Related News:
i.On 16th October, 2020 India, Chile held their First Joint Commission Meeting virtually. This is the first institutionalized dialogue between two countries at the level of Foreign Ministers.
About Ministry of External Affairs (MEA):
Union Minister – Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
Minister of State – V. Muraleedharan
About Suriname:
President – Chan Santokhi
Capital – Paramaribo
Currency – Surinamese Dollar (SRD)
