Prime Minister Narendra Modi receiving the highest national award -The Order of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago- from the President of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, Christine Carla Kangaloo at Port of Spain, on July 04, 2025.
Port of Spain: Trinidad and Tobago has become the 24th country to honour Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with its highest award. Only a couple of days ago, Ghana bestowed its highest award on Modi. He received the Order of the Republic, the highest national award of Trinidad and Tobago, conferred by President Christine Carla Kangaloo during a ceremony at the President’s House in Port of Spain today. The award acknowledges his statesmanship, commitment to the Global South, and role in strengthening India-Trinidad and Tobago relations, marking him as the first foreign leader to receive this honour. Modi expressed gratitude, stating the award symbolises the enduring friendship between the two nations and accepted it on behalf of 1.4 billion Indians. He highlighted the Indian community’s contribution to preserving shared cultural traditions, noting President Kangaloo and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar as key representatives of this community, and underscored Trinidad and Tobago’s role as a vital partner for India within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and globally, emphasising its significance for Global South cooperation.
Modi, who met President Kangaloo at the President’s House, congratulated her on receiving the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award and acknowledged her distinguished public service. Their discussions focused on the deep-rooted ties anchored by people-to-people connections, with Modi inviting her to visit India.
The visit, the first bilateral trip by an Indian prime minister to Trinidad and Tobago since 1999, commenced on July 3, 2025, with a ceremonial welcome at Piarco International Airport, where Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, her cabinet, and parliamentarians greeted Modi with a Guard of Honour and cultural performances.
A vibrant Bhojpuri Chautaal performance, reflecting deep ties with eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, was a highlight, with Modi stating on X, “A cultural connect like no other! Very happy to have witnessed a Bhojpuri Chautaal performance in Port of Spain. The connect between Trinidad & Tobago and India, especially parts of eastern UP and Bihar is noteworthy.”
A cultural connect like no other!
Very happy to have witnessed a Bhojpuri Chautaal performance in Port of Spain. The connect between Trinidad & Tobago and India, especially parts of eastern UP and Bihar is noteworthy. pic.twitter.com/O751WpAJc5
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 3, 2025
This performance underscored the enduring cultural bonds forged by Indian immigrants who arrived 180 years ago, a milestone celebrated during the visit. At a community event attended by over 4,000 people, featuring performances by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Cooperation, Persad-Bissessar announced the conferment of the Order of the Republic, citing Modi’s leadership and diaspora engagement. Modi addressed the gathering, praising the Indian diaspora’s resilience and contributions to Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural fabric, and announced the extension of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card eligibility to the sixth generation of Indian-origin individuals, up from the fourth, to strengthen ties with the Girmitiya community. He also outlined initiatives to preserve this legacy, including support for cultural programmes like the Geeta Mahotsav at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, coinciding with celebrations in India.
In bilateral discussions at the Red House, Modi congratulated Persad-Bissessar on her recent election victory and thanked her for the warm hospitality. The talks covered cooperation in agriculture, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, digital transformation, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), capacity building, culture, sports, and people-to-people ties, reinforcing development cooperation as a cornerstone of the partnership. Both leaders exchanged views on regional and global issues, including climate change, disaster management, and cybersecurity. They reaffirmed their commitment to counter terrorism in all forms, with Modi expressing appreciation for Trinidad and Tobago’s solidarity following the Pahalgam terror attack. Six memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were exchanged to formalize cooperation: one on adopting the Indian Pharmacopoeia to align pharmaceutical standards, another on Indian grant assistance for Quick Impact Projects to support small-scale development initiatives, a cultural exchange program for 2025-2028 to promote artistic and cultural collaboration, an MoU on sports to foster athletic exchanges, an agreement on diplomatic training to enhance capacity building, and an MoU to re-establish two Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) chairs for Hindi and Indian studies at the University of West Indies. Modi invited Persad-Bissessar to visit India, an invitation she accepted, signalling further deepening of bilateral ties.
He was invited by Senate President Wade Mark and House Speaker Jagdeo Singh to make a historic address to a joint session of Trinidad and Tobago’s parliament, the first by an Indian prime minister. Modi conveyed greetings from India’s democracy and highlighted shared democratic values, noting India’s gift of the Speaker’s Chair as a symbol of parliamentary ties, and acknowledged Trinidad and Tobago’s democratic journey. He emphasised India’s reservation of 33 per cent of parliamentary and state legislature seats for women, alongside 1.5 million elected women in local governance, and called for enhanced parliamentary exchanges. He addressed global challenges, urging collective action against terrorism and reforms in global governance to amplify the voice of the Global South, referencing India’s MAHASAGAR vision as a guiding framework for this partnership.
At a traditional dinner hosted by Persad-Bissessar, food was served on a Sohari leaf, a culturally significant gesture for Trinidad and Tobago’s Indian community, particularly during festivals. Modi presented a replica of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and holy water from the Saryu River and the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, symbolising spiritual bonds. He met Trinidadian singer Rana Mohip, who performed “Vaishnava Jana To” during Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th anniversary celebrations, and expressed appreciation for his passion for Indian music, noting on X, “His passion towards Indian music and culture is appreciable.” Several announcements were made to strengthen bilateral ties: gifting 2,000 laptops to school students to support education, providing agro-processing machinery worth 1 million dollars to the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (NAMDEVCO) to enhance agricultural productivity, organizing a 50-day artificial limb fitment camp for 800 people, offering specialized medical treatment under the Heal in India programme, donating 20 hemodialysis units and two sea ambulances to improve healthcare access, installing rooftop photovoltaic solar panels at the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs to promote sustainability, celebrating the Geeta Mahotsav at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, and training pandits from Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean in India to preserve cultural practices. Trinidad and Tobago announced its participation in India’s Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Global Biofuel Alliance (GBA), aligning with shared goals on sustainability and resilience.
The visit marked a milestone in India-Trinidad and Tobago relations, with Modi’s engagements reinforcing cultural, economic, and strategic ties. At the airport, cabinet ministers and the Indian diaspora gave a rousing welcome, reflecting the warmth of the bilateral relationship. Modi’s address to the diaspora highlighted India’s progress in infrastructure, digital technologies, manufacturing, green pathways, space, and innovation, noting that India lifted 250 million people out of poverty in the last decade and is poised to become one of the top three global economies. He emphasised the success of UPI-based digital payments, expressing optimism for its adoption in Trinidad and Tobago, and reiterated India’s philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family), demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a foundation for supporting Trinidad and Tobago’s development.
– global bihari bureau
