External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with foreign ministers from the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping in New York on Wednesday, 24 September 2026, discussing ways to strengthen bilateral ties across economic, digital, and mobility domains. The meeting, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, underscores India's continuing push to deepen engagement with the Global South.

Key Themes of the Meeting

Jaishankar emphasised the need to 'further deepen our ties, especially in economic, digital and mobility domains,' according to his post on X following the meeting. He also 'highlighted our solidarity derived from our shared history and developmental challenges,' drawing on centuries of intertwined colonial experience and, in the case of Suriname, Trinidad, and Guyana, substantial populations of Indian descent.

Training, Solar Energy and Climate Alliances

The EAM urged CARICOM nations to make fuller use of India-provided training slots and offered to design customised programmes in areas of their choosing. India already runs training initiatives across the Global South, with a particular focus on digital technologies. Jaishankar also spotlighted India's role in facilitating solar power installations across the Caribbean and invited member nations to formally join the International Solar Alliance and the Global Biofuels Alliance — both headquartered in India and dedicated to accelerating clean-energy adoption and climate action.

Small Enterprises, Quick-Impact Projects and Medical Aid

Jaishankar told his counterparts that programmes for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) — which channel finance and resources into fast-turnaround, community-level schemes — have already been completed in several Caribbean nations and remain ongoing in others. On the medical front, India has conducted artificial limb fitment camps, gifted haemodialysis units, and supplied the portable BHISHM Cube hospital system — a compact, deployable medical unit designed for disaster response — to select CARICOM partners.

Strategic Context: India and the Caribbean

This meeting is part of a broader Indian diplomatic push at the United Nations General Assembly, where Jaishankar has held a series of bilateral and multilateral engagements. India's outreach to CARICOM reflects a deliberate strategy to build South-South coalitions, secure support in multilateral forums, and expand the footprint of its flagship climate and technology alliances. Notably, the Caribbean grouping represents a bloc of small island developing states particularly vulnerable to climate change, making the solar and biofuels pitch especially resonant. How many of the 15 members formally join the two alliances will be a measure of the meeting's concrete outcomes.