Guyana’s Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, was interviewed by the popular World is one (Wion) TV News based in Delhi that has anchors in several major cities around the world. The VP is in India for a global sustainability conference. He was interviewed in Delhi by a local anchor. The VP met with India’s Minister of Energy Hardeep Singh Puri to discuss agreement between Guyana and India on energy. Guyana is seeking India’s assistance to develop its nascent energy sector.
The VP told an interviewer that his country plans to sign a memorandum of understanding with India to enhance cooperation in the energy sector beyond crude oil exports. Speaking exclusively to Wion diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Jagdeo said there is a need to develop the oil and gas industry in an orderly and sustainable manner. He said: “By 2027, we will produce over a million barrels, maybe 1.2 million barrels per day, that’s a steep ramp up. That’s almost 20% of India’s daily use.”
The VP also told the Wion interviewer that Guyana is seeking to purchase defence capabilities from India to assist with protecting its maritime boundaries and exclusive economic zones from illegal fishing and safeguarding its oil and gas industry.
Dr Bharrat Jagdeo told the interviewer that Guyana “is trying to build the architecture for a broader look at the energy sector and enhance cooperation between Guyana and India. So we’re expecting shortly to sign a memorandum of understanding that would go beyond just the export of crude, but we’ll look at the energy sector and its development in its totality. And we are also looking to learn quite a bit from India. We just started producing oil in 2019. By 2027, we will produce over a million barrels, maybe 1.2 million barrels per day, that’s a steep ramp-up. That’s almost 20% of India’s daily use. And so we are working to ensure that the sector develops in a manner where the oil companies bear their share of responsibilities both from an environmental perspective and a fiscal perspective and that the industry is developed in an orderly way. So that is why India’s assistance and its great technical skills, you have a lot of smart people here who can help us in defining the growth of the industry, but not just on oil, on the gas sector as we move to develop a gas policy and to start utilizing the gas resources and then in terms of environmental management, building capacity across the country. So we are looking forward with great excitement to the development of a strong relationship with India on energy-related matters”.
Jagdeo pointed out to the interviewer that India’s relationship with Guyana has always been a warm one. “I came here in 1993, as a finance minister with the president (Dr Cheddi Jagan). I made two state visits here in the early 2000s as President and now coming as vice president in support of the President’s (Irfaan Ali) earlier agenda. But recently, I think there’s been a great impetus to this move forward. I think it’s a function of a government here that is very aggressive, that is looking out for India’s interests, that is interested in building partnerships around the world, and we’re very appreciative of it. And just on this visit alone, I’ll probably meet about five ministers and the vice president and the president of India in just a short period of time, and we really appreciate that. So we want to reciprocate, we want to make sure that from our side, we’re not found wanting because we believe with the new opportunities in Guyana, can serve both India and Guyana’s interests well, so this is really important for the recent impetus of the relationship”.
