BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - His Excellency Dr. K. J. Srinivasa, High Commissioner of the Republic of India to St. Kitts and Nevis, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris earlier today (Friday, September 17) as part of his official visit to the Federation.
(L-R): His Excellency Dr. K. J. Srinivasa; Mr. Ramesh Mulkanoor as the new Honorary Consul (Designate) for the Republic of India to St. Kitts and Nevis; Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy HarrisDuring the meeting, held at the Office of the Prime Minister at Government Headquarters, Prime Minister Harris and High Commissioner Srinivasa discussed a number of pertinent matters to both nations including visa waiver for ordinary nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis entering India, scholarship opportunities in India for students of the region, CARICOM’s growing relationship with India and the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the economies of both countries.
The High Commissioner extended congratulations to the Government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis on the country’s 38th Anniversary of Independence.
He then told Prime Minister Harris that, “The excellent management of COVID-19 by your Government has given us all these opportunities to meet, interact and get your economy back on track. We are very grateful for your team which has always been there for us whenever we request support of your Government for our various candidatures, and we are very happy that our contributions in terms of vaccines and other collaborative efforts that we are doing with your Government have been able to achieve their destined goals.”
In February of this year, the Government of India donated 20,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines to St. Kitts and Nevis.
At Friday’s meeting, Prime Minister Harris again expressed gratitude to the Government of India for its generous assistance towards St. Kitts and Nevis’ fight against COVID-19.
“Those [vaccines] substantially assisted us in having a very effective rollout of our [vaccination programme]. To date we have had just over 75 percent of the adults who would have had their first shots and over 66 percent of the adult population that would have been fully vaccinated, so we owe a debt of gratitude to your country,” the prime minister said.
His Excellency Srinivasa used the occasion to introduce Mr. Ramesh Mulkanoor as the new Honorary Consul (Designate) for the Republic of India to St. Kitts and Nevis.
Prime Minister Harris commended Mr. Mulkanoor on his appointment, noting that, “[Mr. Mulkanoor] has been with us for quite a while and has been very helpful as we attempt to expand the range of economic engagement in our country, more specifically through education-tourism, and of course beyond education we have become involved in other areas of socio-economic life and we are deeply appreciative of that. We hope he will have your good ears and that through him even better cooperation and follow up could happen between our two countries. So again my commendations.”
During his official visit to St. Kitts and Nevis from September 10-19, High Commissioner Srinivasa is also expected to meet with Deputy Prime Minister, the Honourable Shawn Richards; Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Mark Brantley; Minister of Health, the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbet.
