India, Trinidad & Tobago to explore setting up airlinks

NEW DELHI: India and, Trinidad and Tobago will explore the possibilities of establishing air links during the Caribbean nation's Foreign Minister Surujrattan Rambachan's visit here.

Rambachan and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will co-chair the Joint Commission meeting on Monday when the entire gamut of ties between the two countries will be discussed.

"The entire gamut of bilateral relations including political, economic and commercial, cultural, energy partnership, IT, traditional medicine, air links, technical cooperation will be discussed," an External Affairs Ministry statement said.

The two ministers would also discuss regional and international issues of common interest and concern.

India and Trinidad & Tobago, where 42 per cent of the population is of Indian origin, share friendly relations based on historical and cultural linkages.

"Our cultural relations are being nurtured through the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Cooperation set up in Port of Spain in 1997," it said.

The bilateral trade in 2010-11 was USD 140.51 million with India importing large quantities of LNG and Petroleum products from Trinidad and Tobago.

A few Indian companies have made investments in in areas such as steel, hydrocarbons, banking and financial sectors in Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamala Persad-Bissessar had sought direct air links with South Africa and India at a meeting of the Commonwealth in Perth last month.

Persad-Bissessar will be visiting India in January and will be the chief guest at the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas to be held in Jaipur.