On July 3 rd 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive for his first official state visit to Trinidad and Tobago. He was invited at the behest of the newly elected Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar. The leader of the world’s largest democracy and Hindu-majority nation will meet for the first time with the western hemisphere’s only Hindu leader, Shri Kamla Persad Bissessar. She was Trinidad’s first female Prime Minister and has yet another historic win under her belt in the April 2025 elections with a landslide victory across the twin island republic.
The two world leaders will be undergoing several Memorandums of Understanding for bilateral cooperation and the strengthening of the relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and the people of India. These ties go far beyond economic and political relationships spanning hundreds of years due to the island’s cultural, ethnic, religious and historic ties with India. Trinidad and Tobago along with Guyana and Suriname are nations in the Caribbean and South America who hold a significant population of people of Indian descent who ancestors left India under British Indentureship from 1834- 1917, and have spent almost the last 200 years in the west. Many indentured Indians were taken to islands all across the Caribbean but in these three countries they constitute one of the majority or the majority by a slim percentage. India is also the holy land of the world’s great dharmic religions the largest of which is Hinduism, and Hinduism has made a deep and historic impact through these persons of Indian origin in the Caribbean region.
He will be the first foreign leader to be hosted by PM Kamla at the start of her tenure in office. She is not only inviting him for a state visit but shall honor the PM of India with the highest civilian honor of the country, the Order of Trinidad and Tobago. PM Modi being the charismatic statesman he is was one of the first world leaders to congratulate PM Persad-Bissessar on her win. PM Modi is no stranger to civilian awards of the highest honor across the world. So far, the PM of India has accumulated 21 awards across the globe for all the great he has done for humanity on behalf of the nation of India and the ORTT will be his 22 nd . Other countries across the Caribbean who have bestowed him with their highest honor include Dominica, Guyana and Barbados for his help during the pandemic. His two-day visit will begin on July 3 rd and includes his stop at the Couva Velodrome, address Parliament and meet with the President and Prime Minister, a state dinner at the Diplomatic Centre and perhaps the inauguration of a Ram Murti at a Hindu Mandri (Temple).
Not only will the red carpet be rolled out for PM Modi with full military welcome consisting of the honor guard and both anthems being played (India and Trinidad and Tobago) but schools will be closed across the nation half day. The last time this happened the Queen, Queen Elizabeth II was on her official state visit to Trinidad and Tobago. It is well known that PM Modi is not only in the realm of economically, socially and politically uplifting India but also forging iron bonds with other democracies as well with India’s great diaspora across the world. Unlike the NRI diaspora who have travelled and rooted in the west in recent decades, the Caribbean diaspora of Indians and their Hindu populations are quite different. They have been here for hundreds of years and have made the west their home. They have grown nations from the ground up and see them prosper with their overwhelming contributions to academia, economy, politics and other fields meanwhile, maintaining their culture, religions and ethnic identity even during unfavorable political conditions. Not only that, we are India’s furthest flung diaspora. This means we have suffered and endured hardships and maintained our dharma even without contact and support from India for generations and there is much both countries can learn from each other with their shared ethnic and Hindu heritage. With the global shift in politics, economics and military power taking place, India is fast becoming a mighty nation and if not already a world superpower. It would be tantamount and past the hour to concrete our connections with them. PM Modi and PM Kamla have decided to cooperate on issues they term with the apposite anacronym CARICOM:
1. Capacity Building: which proposes scholarships for citizens of the CARICOM (Caribbean Commonwealth Nations) under India’s ITEC programme and also the introduction of a forensic centre.
2. Agriculture and Food Security: Tackling climate change along with food security with climate resilient superfoods and millet.
3. Renewable Energy and Climate Change: Helping to create at least one solar powered building in each CARICOM nation.
4. Innovation and Trade: The use of India’s UPI system, a fast digital payment system used and adopted by countries in SAARC as well as even in France and Mauritius.
5. Cricket and Culture: using sport as a cultural bridge.
6. Ocean Economy and Maritime Security: Enhancing travel and trade by India supplying passenger and cargo ferries between what he calls, not islands but large “ocean countries.”
7. Medicine and Healthcare: India has a vast availability of medicine and at cost-effective prices. They also produce quite a lot of doctors, noticeably. PM Modi proposes the use of “Made in India” equipment for cancer treatment, mobile hospitals, dialysis units, ambulances and the annual hosting of a camp for artificial limb patients.
As a classical archaeologist and military historian who has spent a lifetime chasing after Alexander the Great, I think we should also cooperate with India to upgrade our military defences and train the TTDF (Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force). Trinidad and Tobago has the potential to become a mini military power within the Caribbean region protecting both ourselves, our smaller neighbors in the pursuit of maintaining and sustaining western civilization and democracy.
Like the woes of the United States of America in terms of economics, Trinidad and Tobago has been experiencing the same plights to revitalize and rejuvenate its economy. It is an unfortunate thing as the island is rich in resources from oil and natural gas to having one of the world’s only pitch lakes. Even Trinidad’s last PM had adopted the Indian UPI system enhancing collaboration and creating a digital transformation across the republic as it did in India and the SAARC countries. India gives without taking in their belief of Vishwaguru ( a great teacher and student relationship) in helping the world with a genuine hand, not leaving countries in economic shambles for simply asking for help. Therefore, economic partnership with India would pay off ten-fold. This also shows the ingenuity of PM Kamla for inviting Shri Narendra Modi. If she wants to save Trinidad and Tobago economically, I am not surprised with this invite and initiative, as many nations have followed suite before. When leaders are ready to do some economic and moral good for their country, they always invite PM Modi. PM Modi has become a symbol of national economic puja, a visit from Lord Kubera (Hindu God of Wealth) when you’re finally ready to clean house.
Jai Shri Ram
Nisha Ramracha.
Classical Archaeologist.